Jose Mourinho surprised many with his team selection, but Pep Guardiola adapted to guide Barcelona to victory.

The surprise was with the use of Mesut Ozil, who most expected to be omitted in favour of an extra defensive midfielder. In fact, it was Real’s usual front four in a 4-2-3-1 system. Lassana Diarra did start, but in place of Khedira, whilst Fabio Coentrao played at right-back.

Guardiola had faith in the fitness of Gerard Pique and Carles Puyol, and dropped Javier Mascherano. He went with Cesc Fabregas and Alexis Sanchez further forward.

Question number one in the preview was ‘Will Real press?’ – a question that was answered emphatically within the first thirty seconds. Barcelona tried to play out from the back, Victor Valdes got his pass wrong, and Benzema fired home for the earliest goal in Clasico history.

Pressing and Ozil

That was the best possible start for the home side, and Real’s pressing was, as expected, most obvious in the first 20-30 minutes of the match. They prevented Barca from constructing good moves from the back, although the Barcelona defence admirably remained committed to passing football throughout the match.

However, it was notable that Real’s attacking band of three had little impact when they won, even when given opportunities on the ball. Cristiano Ronaldo was a peripheral figure, Ozil created little and was removed early in the second half, Di Maria battled well but his end product was often poor. By asking his attacking players to work extremely hard without the ball, maybe Mourinho drained them of the energy they needed when attacking.

The big decision, the use of Ozil, was unsuccessful. Although he he saw a fair amount of the ball in the first half, he rarely played a key pass. Without the ball, he always seemed a couple of yards too slow to close down, and Real could have done with an extra holding player to congest the centre of the pitch – Messi came deep and got too much room.

Barcelona starting shape

Even taking into account the inevitable fluidity, Barcelona’s starting line-up was difficult to decipher. Taking the 4-3-3 as a base, Andres Iniesta was wider than usual, Messi was more of a number ten than a false nine, Cesc Fabregas wasn’t part of the forward line at all (as he often has been this season) but tucked into midfield and seemingly not really knowing what his job was, whilst Alexis Sanchez started on the left but made diagonal runs across the pitch into a centre-forward position.

The approach was reminiscent of the formation Guardiola used in Barcelona’s 2-0 win at the Bernabeu in April 2010, when he used Messi deep and right-of-centre, and Pedro Rodriguez as a left-sided forward. Sanchez did particularly well to occupy both centre-backs and often Coentrao too – with Iniesta always coming from deeper to try and overload the Portuguese full-back.

After around 20 minutes Guardiola switched players around

Barcelona

And, perhaps recalling that 2-0 win, Guardiola moved his side even further towards that system after around 20 minutes. He ordered Dani Alves forward to a right-wing position, Carles Puyol out to right-back, Gerard Pique moved across, and Sergio Busquets dropped to left centre-back. Fabregas moved deeper to help out in midfield, and Barcelona were broadly 4-4-1-1.

The precise reason he decided upon this change is unclear, but it had various benefits:

1) It meant that Busquets, identified as key in the preview of the match because of his ability to prompt good attacking moves, was away from the press of Ozil and could start to feed balls into midfield. He also bravely continued to step out of the back when Barcelona attacked – he got tight to Ozil so Xavi could move forward to the edge of the box.

2) Ronaldo had been a threat early on with a couple of decent chances, but by putting Puyol on him, and often doubling up with both Puyol and Pique (plus the occasional help of Alves), Guardiola almost completely nullified Ronaldo’s threat. Ronaldo had a very quiet game, and Mourinho tried to spark him into life by moving him to the right in the second half, summing up how effective Guardiola’s change had been.

3) It gave Barcelona more width with the use of Alves, something that was desperately lacking in the early stages. He enjoyed the large amount of space between Marcelo and Ronaldo and was constantly an out-ball on the break, most obviously getting down the flank to cross for Fabregas’ header, the third goal.

4) Least crucially, but nevertheless a factor, Fabregas dropped deeper and seemed to know what he was doing more, particularly in the second half.

It was after the switch that Ozil really should have had more of an impact – there was theoretically plenty of space between the lines for him, but Busquets continued to close him down and prevented him being key in the transitions. As the average position diagram shows, even in the second half when part of the back four, he often moved up much higher than the other three defenders, so there was an element of Guardiola’s three-man defence.

Messi

Unlike in the Supercup when Mourinho ordered Ricardo Carvalho to stick tight to Messi, this time he went free. There was a good reason for the centre-backs staying in place – Messi was playing as a number ten (and often even deeper than that) rather than a false nine, but with Diarra and Alonso taking on Fabregas and Xavi in the centre, it meant Messi often got an amazing amount of time on the ball, despite a good battling performance from Diarra.

For the first goal Messi was able to pick up speed before beating both Alonso and Diarra and slipping the ball through for Sanchez, for the third he passes the ball out to Alves on the break after receiving the ball in space. For all the other tactical factors in this match, Messi not being accounted for was very important. He simply got too much room.

Latter stages and changes

Real were extremely unfortunate with the second goal, but the third seemed to kill the game, even after 66 minutes. Mourinho’s side went flat and Barcelona now became focused upon ball retention. This was probably the stage when Real were hoping to sit deep and remain compact (whether winning or drawing) but with a two goal deficit they had to be more proactive.

Kaka had already replaced Ozil (and did OK), the other changes saw Khedira on for Diarra after the Frenchman had been booked, and then Gonzalo Higuain on for Di Maria, who had probably contributed more than Ronaldo. Higuain went upfront and Benzema went left, going close on one occasion after beating Puyol. The changes weren’t particularly inspired, but they did give Real extra energy.

Barcelona slowed the tempo of the game well, and could have added a fourth on the break. Guardiola’s changes were all after 80 minutes and all roughly like-for-like – Seydou Keita, David Villa and Pedro all came on, but the game changed little with their introduction.

Conclusion

Mourinho has often been criticized for not being brave enough against Barcelona – but here he went with an attack-minded side featuring his usual front four, and also looked to press from the front early on. The pressing broadly worked, the use of Ozil broadly didn’t.

The minimal benefit Real gained from playing a central attacking playmaker was more than cancelled out by the amount of space Messi often found; space he surely wouldn’t have enjoyed had Real played an extra (more defensive-minded) midfield player. It’s impossible to know if the alternative formation would have worked – and it might have meant space for another Barcelona elsewhere on the pitch, but giving space to any other player is preferable to allowing Messi to thrive.

Mourinho will point to elements of bad luck, and the fact that Guardiola needed to change formation for Barcelona to exert dominance. But Guardiola did so successfully, and Real didn’t counter-adapt. The Barcelona players who changed position all had excellent games – Busquets played the centre-half role superbly well, a job few other players could do; Puyol was seldom beaten by Ronaldo in one-on-one situations, and Alves motoring up and down the right was crucial in the second period. A tactical victory for Guardiola.

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it is nice the editor also contributes to the forum! thank you zonal marking.

Andre on December 11, 2011 at 7:03 am

He should have moved him to the bench.

Engineer on December 11, 2011 at 9:11 am

Quiet game? Real Madrid played extremely well, it’s unfortunate that he bottled it yet again. His 2nd miss (the header) and the freak goal on the other end changed the game.

Jorge on December 11, 2011 at 12:41 pm

Hardly a freak goal, Xavi’s open shot was well taken and when you allow players space in that area to shoot deflections happen in the area all the time.

Andre on December 11, 2011 at 9:19 pm

Umm it was going centre-left, and deflected to far right. That’s a freak goal mate, considering Casillas had the first shot covered.

JJ on December 11, 2011 at 11:32 pm

I would consider that goal a forced mistake provoked by the FCB play. The defender was in position to deflect the ball better, but wasn’t able. The same interpretation for the first Madrid goal: or were the two rebounds that took the ball to Benzema bad luck?
Football is a game of rights vs. wrongs.
If you consider that fortune is THE explanation for that goal, then the FCB third goal may be lucky because Fabregas was there running towards goal line when the ball came and the defender was so unfortunate to be late.

Joel on December 11, 2011 at 1:51 am

Busquets was awesome tonight. I haven’t seen someone as composed on the ball as him in a long time. Wish people would look past his questionable behaviour (I couldn’t care less) and give him the praise he deserves. Any way to see his passing stats?

Christ here we go with Busquets again….. He really isn’t as great as you tactical gurus make him out to be, he hardly has any notable impact other than sifting positions and one touch pass. So what? Great. If it’s the lack of awareness and appreciation of his transactional function in Guardiola’s system you wish to highlight, then great, but don’t refer to these pawns including Pedro as world beaters. Fact is they would be horribly found out if they played in other systems/teams. Evidence of this is readily available in Spain matches.

Other than Busquets I also hate this match. The general lack of respect and diving takes precedence. In many ways that is the stains Mourinho produces, totally reducing, what should be a game of football into a sordid melodramatic affair. The only saving grace is as usual Lionel Messi. Guardiola could of made 100 changes today, but w/o him nothing. In fact I feel every change he makes in the match and the club is to accommodate Messi. One man team.

guil9 on December 11, 2011 at 2:38 am

One man team? No comments…

master on December 11, 2011 at 1:09 pm

nah, ignore him, cry baby RM fan.. if he is referring his comment to this match, he’s totally wrong.. RM players were winning the actor competition in this match..

Kevo on December 11, 2011 at 2:56 am

WHAT are you smoking dude!?!?!?

This game was much much better than others, in every way. No sinister tackles or trickery, just two teams that wanted to win. Yes there were moments of argument that in no way it compares to previous Clasicos.

Watch the game before commenting.

Also, Im not a fan of Busquets but I do admire his tactical sense and his importance in the midfield.

hutman on December 11, 2011 at 7:22 pm

No sorry I am not a RM or Barca fan. I do find this match-up very disappointing. We have Messi v Ronaldo, Jose v Guardiola and also a another 15 best players in the world. However what you end up with is the Ref. Countless times both teams tried to get a advantage with bookings. That is because the margins are tight and abilities similar: Mourinho would love to get Barca to 10 men, its the only way he is going to beat them. And Barca know this. If they do not play Mourinho’s game, they might lose. In the end Mourinho loses because he relies on the victim syndrome, but conversely ends up handing this elusive advantage to Barca.

Regarding Busquets I have seen him play (I Think). I am sure as ZM points out with the ‘Brilliance of Busquets’ – a play Thiago Motta likes, that he is effective in some capacity. That capacity comes from a highly integrated and specialised system, within which a player has to compromise. He, Busquets generally is lying around various central areas, with one thing in mind…How do I free up space for the three. So usually he comes short, gets the ball off them and gives it back. Simple. Somewhat like a gate within a circulatory system.

A on December 11, 2011 at 3:03 am

are you commenting on this match?

ArsenalArsenalArsenal on December 11, 2011 at 4:50 am

Yea, found out horribly, like in the world cup they won. You’re a total muppet

David on December 11, 2011 at 9:16 am

A good way to gauge Busquets’ value to Barcelona is to watch a match or two where he doesn’t play. The team is not nearly as sharp without him.

legoman on December 11, 2011 at 8:23 am

It’s understandable to underestimate how influential players like Busquets is to Barcelona just like how influential Carrick is to United, Makelele was to Madrid and Chelsea or Lucas to Liverpool.

You’re probably right to think that Busquets never does anything but do simple passes, but that’s because you’re the audience who occasionally notices the guys dressed in full black helping bring props up on stage. Busquets is part of the transition Barcelona has from back to middle/front. For that reason he is crucial to the team. He’s made to do one thing only and he’s doing it well. He is the one initiating the team’s attacks from back.

Actually re-watch the game. Look at how Busquets helps the side pass from back to front even when they horrible conceded a first goal that way. Maybe you’ll change your mind or maybe you won’t bother; but don’t forget that even Pep Guardiola accounts Barcelona’s recent burst to success to the rise of Busquets.

Qwe on December 11, 2011 at 9:57 am

Busquets certainly fits perfectly within the Barca/Spain system. Is he a great player? Or a great team player(for this team/system)?
I’d be genuinely interested to see Busquets play for other clubs. Sometimes watching him I wonder whether he’s just an mediocre footballer who’s been drilled to perfection within the Barca system.

“For that reason he is crucial to the team. He’s made to do one thing only and he’s doing it well. He is the one initiating the team’s attacks from back.”

You are spot on. Whatever one wants to call Barca’s shape last night after the change — 4-2-4, 3-4-3, 3-3-4 — “Busquets was perhaps the most vital piece to the viability of Barca’s shape against an attack as threatening as Madrid’s”: http://bit.ly/pepatemourinhoslunch

Jorge on December 11, 2011 at 12:44 pm

Busquets would be a godsend to teams like Manchester United, Arsenal and Chelsea (who are currently switching to a poor man’s Busquets with Romeu). In short, he would walk on to any team that is trying to implement a modern, dynamic passing game.

Russell on December 12, 2011 at 9:44 pm

The simplest explanation is this. Busquets makes everyone else’s job a little easier. He gives the backline an easy outlet. He gives the midfield the ball at their feet in a position ready to create. He could be compared to the nurse handing the dr the scalpel, or the running-start hand-off in the 4 X 100 relay.

He settles the midfield and creates tempo. Without him – The backs would more often push the ball forward into 50/50 scenarios. Therefore, 1) Losing the ball more often 2) Putting the midfield into a mentality of win the ball then create rather than receive ball at the feet, push it forward.

Busquets would be world class wherever he went, but it is true that peripheral players in those systems may not understand how to use him and thus he would get lost. What makes him world class is his composure on the ball and the creating of that half step of space in a tight midfield to deliver an easy ball.

David on December 15, 2011 at 9:05 pm

I re-watched the game last night. The big switch in Barça’s tactical set up occurs in about the 17th minute, with Puyol moving wide right and pushing Dani Alves up the wing, and Busquets dropping into a “libero” role beside or just in front of Piqué. (Boy, Piqué really had a howler, too, with lots of poor play that was compensated by his team-mates.)

The most amazing thing for me, on the second viewing, was how easily Barça change tempo, even in tight spaces. They will slow down or speed up almost at will. There’s a moment in the 2nd half when Abidal and Busquets win the ball at the edge of their box and just slow down the whole game and make some short passes out of danger. No other team dares to play that slowly with such tight passes in danger areas. Most teams just clear it long. At other times, they will seem to taunt the opposition by showing the ball, then languidly turn it away from the opponent.

Busi is developing into a great player. Is he as multi-dimensional as others? No, not yet, but his career is still very young. He sees openings that most others cannot, and he consistently delivers simple but deadly balls that move Barça from defense to offense in a matter of seconds.

It’s interesting that the youngsters that have come through at Barça like Pedro, Busquets and now Cuenca play in positions many clubs don’t use. Most clubs play a double pivot in front of defence, Busquets has been moulded to play the Barça “4″ position to perfection, while Pedro and Cuenca are wide attackers which are not in fashion for a great number of coaches.

Chris on December 11, 2011 at 6:27 pm

At first I thought you were serious. Then I realized your intent was fishing. But it’s worth noting that there’s a big difference between fishing and standing on the riverbank looking like an idiot.

I do agree about Busquets and Pedro and have been ridiculed for quite some time. Though I am beginning to appreciate what Pedro offers, I do believe if you take these two out of Barca and out them on another team, they would not be as successful.

Benn Fitz on December 11, 2011 at 2:57 am

I think that just might be my favourite website of all time.

Unbiased commentator on December 11, 2011 at 9:16 am

People like you are largely why the diving and cheating is still so prevalent in modern football. You can’t look past a players questionable behaviour simply because he’s a good player – it defeats the whole point of the game.

Jorge on December 11, 2011 at 12:47 pm

Busquets is far from the worst diver in football. In fact, last night Cristiano, DiMaria and Pepe all dived more than Busquets (zero times).

Footballfan on December 12, 2011 at 5:33 am

Cristiano Ronaldo and Di Maria dive too, I agree. I see that lots of times. But Busquets is the worse of the lot. The thing is Ronaldo and Di Maria dive to win penalties,which is bad, but Busquets, along with other culprits such as Dani Alves and Mascherano dive to deny opponent teams legitimate goals, get people booked or sent off. You can look at these links

The worst of the lot: Alves diving to get Pepe sent off. This is not the video from the Real Madrid fan talk show, this is from the match directly. Note closely that Pepe was going for the ball and Alves’ left leg.It was tilted sideways, with intent to perform a flip. Dani Alves intended to dive all the while, whether or not Pepe was going for his leg.Plus if the tackle was really hard and painful, why did he roll about three times? Injured people or ppl in pain don’t do that. I injured myself before I know how its like to be injuredhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tWdOvDOfrHw&feature=related

ronnie10 on December 12, 2011 at 4:02 pm

Well he is a wonderful play no doubt abt that but that doesn’t give him any right to be a cheat.

Mateen on December 11, 2011 at 1:53 am

As you’ve mentioned in earlier articles, Guardiola has tried playing Alves as a right winger before, notably in the 2-0 win against Madrid in 09-10. However, the consensus was that Alves didn’t play well in that position, and I’ve heard that attempts to play him at right wing for Brazil have been unsuccessful. In this game, however, he did very well. I think this is partially attributable to having more players making runs into the box, giving him the option of crossing. Fabregas and Sanchez make those runs more often than previous players, and Xavi has been getting into the box more this year.

Yes, he’s been quite poor whenever I’ve seen him there, to be honest. But here he did well – a lot of space, and benefited by Barca being able to play on the break, rather than holding the ball high up

kaneprior on December 11, 2011 at 9:31 am

could do with ronaldo not tracking back and being up against marcelo (an attacking fullback). Against other teams that will defend against barca/brazil then he is doubled up and gets no space.

Fred on December 11, 2011 at 5:52 am

Very good points. Cesc (and now Alexis) have made Barca a lot more horizontal. I think Cesc has scored five of his ten goals with his head. Was he like that for Arsenal? I don’t remember him being so. In fact, I can’t remember him missing with a header this year. He’s been very deadly.

Kevos on December 14, 2011 at 10:48 pm

I think you meant vertical
Vertical meaning going towards the goal.

Mike P on December 11, 2011 at 11:23 am

If Barca shifted to a 4-4-1-1 system last night, that would suggest that Alves played as a wide midfielder. In this position, he would have more room to accelerate before he meets the opponent’s left back, which is a huge part of his game when he’s playing at full back. I seem to remember that, on other occasions that he’s played high up on the right, he was in a right winger role, which doesn’t give him that acceleration room and blunts his effectiveness. This could just be tactical semantics, but it might explain why the switch worked.

David on December 11, 2011 at 1:50 pm

It seemed that Marcelo was overlapping less than usual even from the outset; he’s been very dangerous before in combinations, and wasn’t in this match. This seems to have left space that Alves used better than he does when he’s at right wing from the outset. Maybe waiting until the second half gave him an edge in energy, not sure why, though I agree that having the option to go to the byline and cross makes him more useful.

I’d say their new shape was more 4-2-4ish than 4-4-1-1ish. It’s splitting hairs, of course, when dealing with such a fluid shape with players adept across the pitch, but Iniesta frequently switching with Sanchez and Alves marking Marcelo and staying high up the pitch leads me down that route. Resembled what they closed out with at Milan this year.

Not only did Messi see more space than usual it let Iniesta run wild. The off-footed Coentrao had no answer for Andres down the left. I think it actually got more hilariously bad for Madrid when they put in Khedira as well, just seemed to be one more player to beat for Iniesta, amazing game for him.

A on December 11, 2011 at 3:08 am

exactly. Iniesta was unmarked, especially in the second half. So Messi, Iniesta and Alves ran wild as they wished. Plus Sanchez has the physical strength to deal with Coentrao, Pepe and Ramos (something that Villa lacks).

Sanchez had one remarkable sequence that ended in his being fouled where he essentially used his strength to slowly spin around subsequent defenders. The silly theatres notwithstanding, a fantastic match for the Chilean.

Fred on December 11, 2011 at 5:57 am

He seems to have a technique where he basically puts his hands on the ground and scrambles past the defender. Incredible centre of gravity.

The first Barca goal was a sign of things to come: Messi moving towards his left (favourite side for shooting) and Alexis cutting across to his right (dragging off defenders) moving towards his favourite side. They’re going to score a huge number of goals together.

matt on December 11, 2011 at 5:26 am

I thought Khedira gifted Iniesta a lot more space than Diarra did. Diarra largely kept Iniesta in check during the first half. He was only beaten once by Iniesta, but it led to a yellow, and Mourinho decided to take him off. Iniesta went wild after that, and made a ton of dangerous dribbles

A. on December 11, 2011 at 11:59 am

they had the small matter of having score goals to get back into the match by then.

Anonymous on December 11, 2011 at 2:00 am

YOU AND MOURINHO MENTIONED THE BAD LUCK OF THE SECOND GOAL BUT YOU FORGOT TO MENTIONED THAT FIRST GOAL WAS A BARCA MISTAKE AND A GIFT TO REAL.

Putting extended text in all-caps does NOT help you make your point. You just come off as desperately “shouting.”

Harman on December 11, 2011 at 5:24 pm

Mistake and Bad Luck are not the same thing Mate !

Tilemaxx on December 11, 2011 at 2:02 am

It was more a 4-6-0 with Cesc given a free role, and Messi sticking right and deep in the pitch. Superb performance from Busquets again, he didn;t miss a single pass despite the heavy pressure from opponents.

Forza Juve on December 11, 2011 at 2:05 am

“Unlike in the Supercup when Mourinho ordered Ricardo Carvalho to stick tight to Messi, this time he went free. There was a good reason for the centre-backs staying in place – Messi was playing as a number ten (and often even deeper than that) rather than a false nine, but with Diarra and Alonso taking on Fabregas and Xavi in the centre, it meant Messi often got an amazing amount of time on the ball, despite a good battling performance from Diarra.”

But Ozil played as number 10 too, and Busquets bravely (and somewhat riskily) came out to nullify him… Is the difference b/c Ozil doesn’t drop as deep as Leo does and thus is easier to pick up?

Yeah, Messi was going much deeper than Ozil. I think Busquets is rare in being able to do that, too

Forza Juve on December 11, 2011 at 2:09 am

Also very risky b/c Ozil’s excellent movement coulda messed up Busquets and/or Pique a few times… But if Ozil was playing closer to Benzema than to Lass and Xabi Alonso, then I suppose it’s worth the risk…

Great review once again btw ZM. Loved it. I really noticed how Alves played a dominant role in the 2nd half too, and reading this review really made me see why.

Riccardo on December 11, 2011 at 2:24 am

People always talk about how good Ozil’s football intelligence and movement is. Its impossible to argue that hes a bad player but if he really is that intelligent a player then why is he constantly so easily nullified and taken off early in almost every clasico?

lefthog on December 11, 2011 at 3:56 am

Ozil problem is that he does not receive passes up the pitch.
And there is no dropping deep because with Barcelona’s pressing there is no regular salida/build up.

Gunnar on December 11, 2011 at 12:32 pm

Maybe because in Madrid he doesn’t have the same kind of intelligent players around him. Ronaldo, di Maria and Benzema are oustanding individual players, but they somehow have no idea how to solve situations by intelligent movement and passing like Özil does. It works much better for him in the German nation team, where he is with players like Klose and Müller, who can respond to his kind of play in the right manner.

Afriq du Sud on December 11, 2011 at 4:25 pm

Try having any current good and intelligent footballers play 5v5 in midfield against, Messi, Xavi, Iniesta, Cesc and Busquets. They will always come up second best.

DeRossi
Schweinsteiger
Carrick
Oezil
Sneijder

Will they be able to pass and rotate the ball as good as the Barca 5?

kirsten on December 11, 2011 at 7:33 pm

the players you mentioned make barcelona to be what it is and to play the way it does. They embody the philosophy of barcelona. You can add Pep to that list. One thing that is clear is that Pep sees football different from any other manager. Villa-Boas can try and mimic barca, but because the philosophy is not deep he will shift to other styles of play.

Anonymous on December 12, 2011 at 7:13 pm

you can add thiago to the barcelona (masia) list. potentially the best under-21 midfielder in europe right now.

Kevo on December 11, 2011 at 2:15 am

ZM what do you think about Alexis’ performance?
To my eyes, he was as energetic as Alves occupying both CB and on occassions Coentrao. Him and Messi can make a devastating duo.

There were so many positioning changes during the game that I should watch it again to make my mind. Alexis Sánchez on the right, the on the left, then in the middle; Alves as a right back, then as an attacking midfielder; Messi up front, Messi on the right, Messi dropping deep; Busquets… Ok, this is the best way to sum it up – the way you did it:

“A tactical victory for Guardiola.” Period. Tactically this was a game to forever remember.

Elwood on December 11, 2011 at 2:21 am

Man Guardiola can probably be forgiven playing the same system every game given his success but he’s surprising tactical and tweaks constantly.

It was pretty ballsy playing with no true right-winger in the first 20 mins leaving Dani Alves alone against Ronaldo and Marcelo, I think the formation change was probably that reason.

It’s a shame Madrid lost just when Mourinho decided to play a more proactive game, but he should no better man, I remember reading something said by him that when 2 teams playing the same style clash, the better team will always win. IMO Barcelona is only slightly better, BUT they are the absolute best in the world in what they do.

Woodyche on December 11, 2011 at 2:53 am

“only slightly better”?

Despite Madrid’s supposedly superior strength, speed, and size, they are an obviously inferior team to Barcelona. Never mind that Madrid is Barcelona’s closest rival in the world at this point, they are still not near Barcelona as a soccer team.

Ever since falling to Barcelona in the Supercup, there has been interminable chatter about how much better Mourinho is in his second year and how Madrid has caught up to Barcelona. Also, let’s not forget this game was played in the Bernabeau…not Camp Nou. Madrid has no excuses. They are an inferior team. They simply cannot beat Barcelona at this point in history. To draw even slight comparisons seems very bold.

The coach is getting out-coached: psychologically and tactically. Madrid players are being out-played. Besides, they do not possess the skill level of Barcelona. To add insult to injury, Barcelona is actually better defensively (despite notions of that being their weakness).

Elwood on December 11, 2011 at 3:33 am

First of all, physical attributes like strength, speed and size are just as important to technical attributes like passing and stuff. Just because they’re less glorified doesn’t make them inferior.

However, like I said I agree that Barcelona is better overall and I also agree that the current squads cannot be compared on achievements. BUT they are not that far apart, and even if they are, Real Madrid is the closest in the world to them in sporting terms. No excuses of course, the better team won.

Of course Barcelona is excellent defensively, when they need to kill a game off they pass their opponents to death in a way no other team in the world can, and I mean that as a compliment.

Still think Mourinho should have played for the draw!

Woodyche on December 11, 2011 at 4:52 am

It’s not a matter of physical attributes being downplayed. It’s just that it doesn’t matter if Madrid is bigger, faster, stronger if those attributes don’t translate into better soccer. And, if it can be proved that Real Madrid is faster, which I doubt they are, it isn’t yielding results. They can’t seem to run past Barcelona. The same goes for any other attribute Real Madrid supposedly has in deference to Barcelona.

Besides, Mourinho can decide to play for a tie, and this doesn’t mean he could make that happen. How many teams have tried this tactic over the past 4 years and failed? Mourinho’s Inter? They played for a tie in the second leg in Barcelona and couldn’t do it. They still gave up a goal and nearly lost playing for a tie against this vastly superior team.

I know you are not disagreeing about Barcelona being the better team, and I am arguing for the concession that the gap between these two teams is much more than slight. I fine to agree to disagree, but I feel the difference is large and feel confident that the results prove this time and time again.

Simply, Madrid is out-matched by a better coach in Guardiola and his loyal followers hate to admit it. Coaching is far more than tactics (anathema to a website dedicated to tactics). Mourinho’s supposed mental preparation of players is in serious doubt. His players have melted down in each of the Clasicos since he took the reins (though today’s match was surprisingly mild, only Pepe getting nasty…which is to be expected). Mourinho’s public meltdowns in the press last year and his continued disrespect of his opponents is showing a serious weakness in his supposed “specialness”.

To be unable to admit (like a classier Ferguson did after the Champions Final) that you were outplayed and out-coached by a superior team and coach shows just how far behind Madrid and Mourinho actually are. Mourinho has no answers to Barcelona and yet feels entitled to trophies and titles…he got too much too fast and bought into his own BS myth. It is tiresome to listen to Mourinho cry about bad luck, poor refereeing, etc.

Guardiola owns Mourinho at his own game: the press! Mourinho goes from spells of putting his foot in his mouth to infantile rants to silent treatments. He tries to prime referees before games. He is a horrible sportsman. On the other hand, when asked why Real Madrid was in first place, Guardiola was confident enough in himself and his team to admit that up to that point in the season they had done things better than them…period! He didn’t have to admit that Real Madrid was better, despite the world press, betting parlors, and even fair-weather Barcelona fans prognosticating a sea-change in La Liga. Guardiola was proud of his work and his believed in his team’s ability to stay focused in the moment and take care of business. Mourinho just is as calm and cool as people falsely believed! He just isn’t as good a coach as Pep.

And then there are the two teams. One has given the world a kind of soccer previously only imagined in Dutch fantasies. Now, it’s a reality. Total Football with Catalan rationalism. What’s perhaps even more stupefying is that they made almost all their players themselves through their youth system. This is not a team of paid mercenaries. As a result, their is a level of buy-in from their players coaches could only dream of having. Finally, the players themselves. Madrid is basically lining up with Portugal, Brazil, Germany and a couple of Spain’s national teams. On the other side is the core of the reigning European and World Champions…add in Messi and now Alexis! Barcelona just has the better and more important players in any formula for success: i.e. midfield! Today’s game was won by Xavi, Iniesta and Busquets. As have the last 10 clasicos.

Until Madrid finds a midfield that can deal with them, it doesn’t matter who they get (coach or players) they just won’t be able to handle Barcelona…just as no other team has over the past 3 years.

Woodyche on December 11, 2011 at 4:57 am

*Mourinho just ISN’T as calm and cool

Footballfan on December 11, 2011 at 7:14 am

I think you assesment of Real Madrid is harsh. Though they were defeated,they played much better against Barca than when they played before Mourinho came. Though Barca’s second goal was really unfortunate and the third goal unstoppable, you rarely see teams defend as well as Real Madrid against Barca or make as many dangerous runs against Barca or play with much passion against Barca as Real Madrid. Many teams in the La Liga just roll over against FC Barca without a fight – they treat these matches as mere formality and don’t really bother attacking and put a half hearted effort in defending at best.That said, Barca are not invincible. They can be beaten in three ways:

1. Press their midfield aggressively using fast and physical midfielders. Barca players are good at defending, but they are not used to being pressed aggressively at a high intensity. If Mourinho started Khedira/Pepe alongside with Diarra and Alonso, and, press Alexis Sanchez and Fabregas relentlessly throughout the match, Real would have won.

2. Play diagonal balls to wingers in the air. Barca are good in denying space between the lines but are not good in dealing with aerial balls. It is shown in the Copa Del Rey final and the UCL semi-final against Inter tht they are extremely vulnerable to diagonal, aerial balls. Surprisingly,Real largely played the ball on the ground throughout the match.

3. When defending, do not man mark Barca palyers. Defend by denying space in between the lines, especially when Barca have possesion. Barca players need space to play the crucial through ball and their silky passing game. By denying space between the lines, their game is almost killed.

4. Play a tall,fast and physical striker and speedy wingers who cut inside. Pique and Puyol are not used to being run at and have always shown difficulty in dealing with fast strikers who run at them.Pacey wingers who cut inside will give Alves and Abidal something to think about, preventing overlapping runs, especially from Alves.

2.

Elwood on December 11, 2011 at 8:14 am

I worded it wrongly, I meant I think Madrid should have played on the counter.

That was an excellent post, but more of a rant on Mourinho which I’m neutral on so I got nothing to say.

Just curious, what do you think is the midfield that can deal with Barcelona?

And yet they’re doing better in the league. I agree that Barca are a better team, but the only thing that counts at the end of the season is table position and tournament trophies. And Madrid are doing just fine so far.

Qwe on December 11, 2011 at 10:13 am

For all the intellectualization, the simple fact is that the score would’ve been 3-3 if Real had better finishing.
We’d be reading an entirely different narrative here if that had happened…

Rod on December 11, 2011 at 11:09 am

Oh well.. in that case.. for all the intellectualization, the simple fact is that the score would’ve been 5-3 if Barcelona had better finishing.

I can’t believe you’re resorting to that tired old fallacy of an argument.

“And yet they’re doing better in the league. I agree that Barca are a better team, but the only thing that counts at the end of the season is table position and tournament trophies. And Madrid are doing just fine so far.”

This isn’t to say Madrid isn’t one of the top two or three European sides. Just that Barca is historically great at the moment, and their opponents are playing them as such.

Mark on December 11, 2011 at 3:00 pm

How would you know Guardiola is the ‘better coach’? Have you seen him on the training pitch?

Woodyche on December 11, 2011 at 5:23 pm

Many of the replies still sound like wishful thinking: Madrid’s strength and size does this and that and causes problems for Puyol and Pique; all a team has to do to beat Barcelona is press the midfield and this and that; Copa del Rey this and that; yesterday’s Clasico could have been 3-3 but for missed chances…and on an on.

Reality check: Madrid is an inferior team to Barcelona as has been proved over the course of the past 12 Clasicos. I argue that the gap remains larger than “slight.”

As one poster pointed out, all that matters in the end are the trophies, which should help to prove my point: how many of those trophies has Barcelona accumulated during this generation of dominance.

Can they be beat? Of course, even the most dominant teams in history lost a game or two. The question here is about the gap between Real Madrid and FC Barcelona. The most likely team to beat Barcelona on a given day is Madrid…no argument here. But, as the results have shown, that is still not happening.

I saw a different game than most wishful thinkers on this thread. Barcelona remained utterly calm, cool and collected in one of soccer’s most hostile stadiums and in one of soccer’s most highly pressured contexts: El Clasico. Yet, like ZM pointed out, they never went away from their style and continued to pass out of the back. They were making passes from inside of their own penalty area which would have most coaches reaching for their high blood pressure medicine.

They also created many chances at goal. The scoreline could easily have been 1-6 but for some last second defending from Casillas. Yet the most common recollection from yesterday’s game were Madrid’s missed opportunities. In fact, the more dangerous team throughout the game was actually Barcelona, who was penetrating the Madrid penalty area and in typical Barcelona style attempting to dribble the ball into the goal. Iniesta got in behind their defense relatively easily and frequently.

Since the obsession of soccer fans all over the world for the past 4 years is about how to beat Barcelona and can it be done, perspectives have been skewed to seek gaps and flaws in their game. There is even hyper-attention paid to signs of weakness and signs of vulnerability. It is often far from objective.

To argue that all a team has to do is pressure Xavi, Iniesta, Cesc and Alexis with Khedira and Pepe is ludicrous. They did that last year and were eliminated from the Champions League as a result.

To point to Copa del Rey as a formula or evidence of Madrid’s comparable level is also a stretch. I’ve watched that game a number of times, and despite being a more dangerous than most teams Barcelona typically faces, the better game and better team was still played by Barcelona. Mistakes were made by Barcelona, and a single cross got better of them. But Barcelona created more opportunities at goal during that game and should have won.

So, are we seriously suggesting that all the great teams of Europe that have fallen to Barcelona over the past 4 years or so haven’t tried almost every conceivable offensive and defensive approach and found themselves on the losing end? Like Ferguson didn’t appreciate something as simply-stated as “pressure the midfield”? C’mon!

This isn’t only about tactics and lineups! For the time being, Barcelona has as superior a team as the world has ever seen. And that dominance and power comes not only from Pep the tactician. He is a sublime leader. His team’s mental game has most teams beat before the game starts. His confidence in his players has created buy-in rarely seen from typically selfish professional players. The team culture and atmosphere is special: no room for individualistic guys like Ronaldinho (started partying instead working out), Eto’o, Ibra, and Co. Guys like Alves have had to adjust to this…Thiago continues to learn he will have curb his “Brazilianness” (arrogance and show-off) if he wants to remain there.

What’s more, the fact that Barcelona’s players are mostly from their own system should cannot be overstated. They share soccer DNA that makes for a technical and tactical speed of play unprecedented in soccer history. To review in our heads yesterday’s games and the unbelievable way in which they passed their way out of danger using flicks, short aerial passes, one and two touch passing is worth recalling.

Finally, Barcelona wasn’t even at their best yesterday…clearly. The mistakes made by Valdez would have condemned any other team in the world against Real Madrid! The passing wasn’t has crisp as when they are firing on all cylinders. Yet they still walked away with a dominant and comfortable win.

Oh yeah, and Madrid’s first goal was more “lucky” than Barcelona’s second…since it was the result of a blatant and ridiculous error. A deflection from a low-driven shot like Xavi’s is why coaches train players to shoot low. There is no way of knowing if Casillas would have saved the original shot…

Rolando on December 11, 2011 at 6:23 pm

I think that the difference isn’t “big”, but the point is that Barsa is “slightly” better than Madrid in every single aspect of the game.

Garrincha on December 11, 2011 at 6:38 pm

Footballfan you’re absolutely right, a Khedira/pepe/lass/alonso midfield would’ve won the match for real. I mean they would’ve offered so much in attack to the (2) forwards right? plus the barca defense suck…

don lamb on December 12, 2011 at 5:53 am

The insignificance of the Copa Del Rey has more to do with Barca’s squad selection than anything else. The outcome was not surprising even though it was still a bit fortunate of Real’s side

Footballfan on December 12, 2011 at 8:08 am

@Woodyche

“As one poster pointed out, all that matters in the end are the trophies, which should help to prove my point: how many of those trophies has Barcelona accumulated during this generation of dominance.”

You need to look at why Barca has been winning lots of trophies using their trophies using their new generation of players. During Guardiola’s first 2 seasons in charge Real Madrid was not very strong. The Real Madrid squad then was inconsistent and weak defensively, and could not effectively put up a challenge. Compare that with the Real Madrid now, which is a much stronger team and giving Barca a tough fight in the overall title race.

“To argue that all a team has to do is pressure Xavi, Iniesta, Cesc and Alexis with Khedira and Pepe is ludicrous. They did that last year and were eliminated from the Champions League as a result.”

Real Madrid were eliminated from the UCL last season not because of their tactics but because of highly controversial and debatable incidents in both legs, which I will not go into detail as and earlier post on this got deleted. When Pepe was on the pitch, Real Madrid was still 0-0 against Barca. It is only slightly past the hour mark when Pepe was sent off then did Barca scored, because the player who kept Messi quiet was off, which showed that the pressing strategy is effective after all. Also, this season, when Barca played against Athletic Bilbao, who pressed them throughout the game, they could not play their tiki-taka game and managed to draw only due to a defensive error.

“So, are we seriously suggesting that all the great teams of Europe that have fallen to Barcelona over the past 4 years or so haven’t tried almost every conceivable offensive and defensive approach and found themselves on the losing end? Like Ferguson didn’t appreciate something as simply-stated as “pressure the midfield”? C’mon!”

When Guadiola first took charge, many teams in Europe and Spain could not adapt to Barca’s tiki-taka game, which was revolutionary. So that’s why many teams tried to attack or defend against Barca but in vain. It took equally revolutionary tactics by Mourinho and Bielsa to deal with Barca’s tiki-taka game. Even still, during Guardiola’s first season in charge, Hiddink’s Chelsea showed how to deal with Barca and won the tactical battle. They were eliminated, however due to 4 controversial incidents in the game. Ferguson actually used the “press the midfield” strategy in the two finals against Barca. In the final, it worked effectively in the first 10 minutes but after the first goal, United’s discipline broke and put in one of the worst performances from them. In the second final United used the pressing strategy which was effective once again but had to drop deep after 10 minutes as Giggs may not be able to keep up the pressing game which requires a lot of stamina, leaving United outnumbered in midfield.

“To point to Copa del Rey as a formula or evidence of Madrid’s comparable level is also a stretch. I’ve watched that game a number of times, and despite being a more dangerous than most teams Barcelona typically faces, the better game and better team was still played by Barcelona. Mistakes were made by Barcelona, and a single cross got better of them. But Barcelona created more opportunities at goal during that game and should have won.”

Real Madrid players are not as skillful as Barca players. That is a known fact. But it is not right to say Barca were the better team. They could not play their tiki-taka game effectively, had many of their passes blocked and looked uncomfortable at the physical game Real Madrid was playing as well as the pace of Cristiano Ronaldo. Real Madrid threatened at least 11 times, whereas Barca threatened around 5-6 times, largely around 72-78 mins in the game and other rare pockets of opportunity elsewhere.

Footballfan on December 12, 2011 at 8:17 am

@Garrincha,

Thanks, but Pique and Puyol are actually good defenders and Barca good in defending just as how they are good in attacking. However, they have their weaknesses just like other good defenders, which in this case is fast, tall and physical strikers running at them.

@don lamb,

Its not true that tht the CDR was insignificant due to Barca’s squad selection. Barca fielded their first team with minor exceptions – Pinto in goal instead of Valdes and Mascherano alongside Pique instead of the usual Pique-Puyol partnership. But this is insignifacant as Mascherano has been playing in centre back since january or February. That said, Barca made Real worked really hard just to win it.

Qwe on December 13, 2011 at 4:57 am

@Rod,
Actually, you’re proving my point: If Barca and/or Real had better finishing(or worse, for that matter), the result would’ve been different. Therefore, narrative would’ve been different, despite the tactics being the same.

Iason on December 11, 2011 at 2:23 am

Great game. Real Madrid at their very best, at home, still can’t quite match Barcelona. Most people say that Madrid is better this season. They have been better than Barca I think so far. But they just can’t figure out what they have to do in order to truly get on Barca’s level. Well honestly, I don’t think there is much they CAN do.

Barca are considered the best team ever by many people, and I think they are. Madrid will have to wait it out. That being said, I still feel as if Madrid might win La Liga. If there is one thing Madrid have over Barca, it is physicality. Barca might tire and drop points in March/April. Madrid have the stamina to keep on going.

That being said, today showed that fatigue is just as much mental as it is physical. By the 75th minute, it seemed as if the Madrid players were running with weights tied to their ankles, while the Barca players somehow kept finding the energy to get the ball first.

A couple things:

Abidal is THE best Left Back in the world. He has been for a while, but I think people should finally give him the credit he deserves. Marcelo is better offensively. But that’s because Abidal is a defensive LB. In many ways, he is the ying to Alves’ yang. At 32, he was (somehow) keeping up with Di Maria in full out 40 yard sprints. Bear in mind that Di Maria’s pace rivals Ronaldo’s.

Pique kills me with his passing. Scared the crap out of this little Barca fan! Still, he did what was needed. And he is probably the most skilled CB in the world. He almost pulled off a move Messi would have been proud of, skipping by two Madrid players. But then was unlucky to step on the ball when he was about to bring it forward.

Valdes made a terrible mistake, but he came up good by the end. Pep highlighted his mental strength when Valdes kept on passing, even after his mistake. Well done I say.

Puyol… WOW! I wanted Mascherano to start. Masch has been our best CB this season, and I think he is the best CB in Spain. But I think Pep was justified in starting Puyol for two reasons: Puyol is better equipped to deal with Benzema, and Puyol is a must in the 3 man defense.

Mascherano is faster and better at reading the off-the-ball runs. Higuain is very fast and makes brilliant runs in behind defenders. That’s right up Mascherano’s alley. Benzema is more skillful on the ball and is better at holding it up and linking up play. Puyol’s strength and experience was needed here.

The second reason, about the 3 man defense: Pep’s plan was to play a 3 man defense-of-sorts. We basically played the 3-4-3, except instead of playing another CM and playing a diamond formation, Alves played right midfield. And Busquets dropped very deep at times to make it look like a back 4.

Basically the same as our 4-3-3 with Alves an attacking fullback, except since this was a planned tactic from the start, Barca were much better prepared when Alves was caught up the field. When we are playing a 3 man defense, two defenders are “musts”: Puyol for RCB, and Abidal for LCB. The CB position is between Pique and Masch (Pep went for the safer choice in Pique today). So it wasn’t actually between Puyol and Masch for the starting spot, it was between Pique and Masch. Today Pep picked Pique. I still fully believe that in our standard 4-3-3, Mascherano is a certain starter.

Cesc was pretty invisible, but he showed exactly why we bought him with his goal. We weren’t lacking in creativity, we didn’t need another playmaker with Thiago on the bench. But we needed another scorer, someone who could make the driving runs into the box. Keita does this very well too, but he almost never gets the ball played to him, and this season he is strictly a DM. Cesc was need, to bring versatility to our attack.

Sanchez is worth every penny. Pretty annoying when he kept complaining, but brilliant when he had to be. He somehow managed to HOLD THE BALL against Madrid’s centerbacks, something even Messi sometimes struggles with. The only worry Barca fans had about him was his finishing. Well… that’s settled now.

Messi was as good as usual. Defended against decently by Madrid, yet he couldn’t be denied. Pepe and Lass did what they could, but overall they couldn’t spot Messi’s influence. If there is one thing that sets him apart from Ronaldo (there is definitely more than one thing…) it’s his attitude in the game. He relishes a challenge. My favourite moment was when he lost the ball in midfield, he tracked back 50 yards to steal back off Di Maria.

Iniesta played a game of two halves. First half he was isolated on the wing and couldn’t do much against a solid Coentrao. Second half he moved back into midfield, hence Barcelona dominating. I think Iniesta’s poor first half highlights an issue about Villa. People constantly criticize Villa. Yet when Iniesta played the same role, he didn’t do any better. And it wasn’t his fault. And it isn’t Villa’s fault for being slightly below average. Villa is basically playing a utility role. Stay very wide to maintain width, and try to be a good outlet to keep possession flowing. It is a tough and unrewarding job, one which Villa does as best as possible, and one which Iniesta struggled immensely to do.

On the right, the attacker has the support of Alves. Not to mention Xavi and Messi having natural tendencies to be more right-sided. Abidal has to stay back. But doing so leaves our LW isolated. Not only that, it means the LW is forced to create width. On the right, Alves creates width, allowing the winger to drift inside and become a goal threat. Not possible on the left unless we play Adriano/Maxwell. Sanchez played very well on the left in recent games, but he also had Maxwell helping him out. Not to mention his immense speed and work rate allowed him to both maintain width AND drift inside to assist Messi.

My MOTM was Busquets. The guy played perfectly. Stopped everything Madrid threw at him, and he completed passes that seemed impossible to complete. Next comes Puyol, for constantly saving our defense. After that it is Alves and Iniesta. Then Messi and Sanchez. Everyone else payed very well.

Iason on December 11, 2011 at 2:28 am

Actually, while watching some replays, I think the formation in the second half was a bit like this:

I thought the same, except to my eyes it was a back three, Busquets sitting sometimes in midfield sometimes coming back to make a defensive four, Alves hogging the right, and then five guys going wherever they could to find space.

don lamb on December 12, 2011 at 6:00 am

THE ELUSIVE 3-4-3!!!!!! Holy shit, you unlocked the vault. We saw it and didn’t even know it.

raul693 on December 11, 2011 at 2:54 am

Iason, the point on Abidal could not be more spot on, he’s a defensive oriented left-back! Not sure if the best around but he certainly makes the podium. Interestingly, and as I mention a couple of post below, Mourinho had a very good side-back rotting on his bench in Alvaro Arbeloa, I don’t understand why he went with Coentrao if he didn’t really need nor expected attacking power form his right-back.

About Fabregas, he was like a VIP spectator for the first 40 minutes, then Guardiola decided to pull him back and send Iniesta higher, this all paid it’s dividends in the second half. First off, Iniesta was free, and we all saw how good that turned out for Barca; second, in a fixed midfield role Cesc no longer looked lost (he still wasn’t a force but at least it didn’t looked like Barcelona were one man down, the guy even helped more in defense), and it allowed him to provide that thing that you mention, runs into the box, the third goal is a prime example of that, one can’t imagine Iniesta coming form behind to score with a header like that anytime soon.

Afriq du Sud on December 11, 2011 at 5:09 pm

The choice of Coentrao over Arbeloa was to try to match the pace of Sanchez as Madrid were always going to play a high line in order to facilitate the pressing.

Cogito on December 11, 2011 at 5:26 am

I agree with you on many things, but not on Abidal. Not that he is not a very good LB, but simply that Lahm is better

Personally I also think Evra has been getting worse and worse the last two and a half years or so, which may in part explain United’s decline as much as the departures of two-thirds of their forward trio (even if said decline includes a Premier League title and CL Runners up medals).

Iason on December 11, 2011 at 6:02 am

Oooh I forgot about Lahm. Slightly better technique than Abidal. Abidal is slightly better physically though. They are both equally tough to get buy on the 1v1 situations… Put Lahm in Barca, he wouldn’t displace Abidal. But put Abidal in Bayern, and I don’t think he would be able to displace Lahm. Abidal wins it for me because of how he can adapt so easily. He can dominate fast tricky wingers, and also big powerful strikers. Also because of how much he has improved each season in Barcelona. First season, he was plain bad. Season season he was good, but still the weak link. Third season is when I started believing he was our best defender. He was playing with so much confidence and class, I couldn’t believe my eyes. He basically saved our defense that season. But he wasn’t recognized as much, because he suffered two long term injuries. Third season, he retained his amazing form, and he wasn’t getting injured too much. Cancer in the liver? No problem. He recovered and played a good game in the Champions League final. This season, he is again playing well. Not QUITE as amazing as before yet, as he is making a few more errors, but he has improved in other ways now. His passing is wonderful. His understanding of our tiki taka is perfect. At 32, he has retained most of his pace. God I really wish we got him sooner . Such a talented player. Not to mention his attitude is awesome. I still think he was the most impressive in the 09/10 season, before his two major injuries. Pique was considered the wonder kid and was playing awesome, and Puyol was as terrific as ever, yet I remember every Cule constantly talking about Abidal and his amazing form. Maybe not actually better than he is now, but the step he took from the 08/09 season to the 09/10 season was HUGE.

Don’t even mention Evra :p. Thought he was decent at best before. When he started declining, he was awful. Now he isn’t one of my top 15 left backs in the world :p.

Cogito on December 11, 2011 at 7:49 am

I find your point about Abidal’s tiki taka ability interesting and spot. Of his many qualities, one of the most noticeable is surely his ability to make a quick interplay of passes to get himself, or a teammate out of trouble and/or into a better position.

As a Bayern fan, I think Lahm has been a victim of Bayern teams not really being organized around him, rather, he’s just expected to be superhuman. Instead of mitigating his deficiencies (lack of height, in particular) and giving him a focused role in the team he usually plays conservative enough that he can save the defence in emergency and forwards enough that the winger ahead of him isn’t starved of the ball.

Mike on December 11, 2011 at 9:18 pm

Coentrao’s role in the game is, for me, the most mystifying of all. He didn’t have to defend against Messi (who is usually on the other side of the park), he didn’t have to worry much about Abidal foraging forward (because Abidal had his hands full with di Maria and isn’t a natural attacker), yet Coentrao very rarely foraged forward to help di Maria, who often seemed isolated. I find that very strange. Then, in the second half, despite Coentrao sitting back, Iniesta ran riot. Maybe RM would have gone a lot better if THEY had played with three at the back.

Mike on December 11, 2011 at 10:16 pm

Indeed, wasn’t the theme of this classicos basically the same as all the others: Real Madrid with four back on sentry duty while Barca circulated in front of them and then attacking in numbers at a vulnerable point. The two solutions seem to be:
(a) Defending in depth and counter-attacking; or
(b) Playing a very high defensive line and compacting the midfield.
Surely, at home, Mourinho should have done (b), particularly with the footspeed of his defensive line.
But he didn’t really do either.

Anonymous on December 12, 2011 at 4:48 am

Play a defensive line too high against barca though and they could have exposed themselves to through balls to diagonal runs like the one sanchez made for the first goal

Mike on December 12, 2011 at 6:08 am

True, but you’ve got to pick your poison. Better to have the back four cramping the midfield and so Messi et al’s ability to turn and dribble at the defence, particularly when you’re chasing the game. As many have commented, Messi had too much time on the ball between the lines.

It was great seeing Pep constantly tinker with his system in a sort of cat and mouse battle with Mourinho, who clearly didn’t have as much confidence in his side’s flexibility (or perhaps courage to test it).

I actually think Madrid were looking pretty comfortable for seeing out the first half and to perhaps further lock down their defence in the second. It took that one bit of Messi magic to lift Barca heads and take away the stress that was clearly affecting their rhythm and confidence alongside Madrid’s pressing.

Had Messi not ignited when he did, we could well have things end up as a 2-0 to Mou.

It was odd seeing Madrid hold firm in the middle for much of the first half with Barca relying on width almost like two subversions of the two rivals traditional styles: Madrid satirising Barca and Barca spoofing up the Madrista’s penchant for the wing lead counter. Great match for the spectating neutral.

Its also worth noting that Ronaldo was utterly useless in attack and anonymous in defence as usual. Madrid looked like they had a man short? He’s their answer as to why: an egotistical blackhole of player at the worst possible and in the worst possible way.

Self-Aware Beast on December 11, 2011 at 2:28 am

I’ve given it endless thought, I don’t think it has anything to do with Mourinho falling short, or with Guardiola being a little bit ‘more’ brilliant. Or with the players/individuals. Madrid cannot tactically beat Barcelona. They can re-arrange every one of their stars in all combinations, with all possible instructions. Mourinho does this, he plans to the last detail to make sure he can mentally imagine the match and prepare for it such. I think he laid out a perfect plan for today, his most perfect opportunity to topple Barcelona. And he lost 3-1. A man of his brilliance must be at his wits end because he cannot control to the last second of the 90th minute, the minds of 11 professional players, who’re pretty much the best one can get. Yet apart from the first 10-20 minutes, Barcelona dominated.

The reason I think they’re beyond tactics is because they’re near suicidally subscribed to the organic nature of total football. To beat them, you don’t go home and practice more….or analyse more or get a new player. You accept that Total football has undisputeably reached its absolute peak. The organic system simply won due to its nature…and Mourinho has to accept the superiority of that nature. He cannot outthink that.

Woodyche on December 11, 2011 at 3:04 am

I agree. I spent last summer in Barcelona with my soccer team. I arranged for them to train with FC Barcelona’s youth coach Joan Vila. Vila was the youth coach of Xavi, Iniesta, Puyol, Valdez, et. al. It was amazing to see what all Catalan boys are being exposed to at such a young age. Their focus on directional control, first touch, and constant “rondos” (keep-away) is phenomenal. It is as if Barcelona youth players have as a part of their DNA the ball skills we are seeing from the first team down through their youth teams.

In case anyone missed it, watch FC Barcelona’s midweek match against Belorussian BATE Borussia. It is a chance to see the next generation of Barcelona magic in line to replace Xavi, Iniesta and Co. Sorry to say it, but FC Barcelona’s decision to invest in their youth system is likely to pay off well into the future. Simply, the best players in the world are in a small autonomous region of Spain called “Catalunya.”

BerkeleyBernie on December 11, 2011 at 6:57 am

I tend to agree. You can’t defend against a shape-shifter which is by nature instantly adaptive. Bunker down and counter will win on occasion, but even that tactic will eventually become more penetrable as Barça experiments.

Voodoo Chile on December 11, 2011 at 11:20 am

So what you’re saying is basically that Barcelona and total football is unbeatable. That is pure bullshit. Firstly, players age, get injured and retire and there will be a time when Barcelona no longer is the best team in the world. Secondly, it has been proven that Barcelona can be beaten. Real Madrid did it in the Copa final, Arsenal beat them fairly last year and Inter truly outplayed them 18 months ago (don’t give me any stats bullshit, Inter knew what they were doing from start to finish).

master on December 11, 2011 at 1:48 pm

well, even getafe beat barcelona in their last encounter.. barca can be beaten, hell, tell me one team in history that did not lose the game even one? you can brag all about the teams that beat barca in these 4 years, but RM needs 10 matches to win one game tells all the differences this barca team had, arsenal? out of context, inter only won one game out of 4 clashes against barca in last 2 years CL, while barca won 2 .. But, having said all of that things, i see only Ac Milan actually got the recipe to beat total football, physically prowess, accurate long ball, and highly technical players especially target man may settle the total football legacy, well, who knows, maybe pep came out with something special again..

Voodoo Chile on December 11, 2011 at 3:41 pm

My point was that Barcelona and Total Football isn’t the ultimate strategy in football (there is none) and no team will last forever. There will be a day when Barcelona no longer is the best team in the world.

Woodyche on December 11, 2011 at 5:35 pm

I couldn’t agree more! Total Football is not the ultimate strategy. I never said that. I see an end to this cycle in the future. The question is when? What’s more, I don’t believe it has as much to do with tactics and styles (i.e. Total Football, Counterattack, Direct, etc.). I think the players themselves have a lot more say than the coaches (and I’m a coach!).

Right now, Catalunya is producing the best players in the world and it is almost entirely about technical skills. It’s about the most simple aspects of the game: directional control; one and two touch; pass and move; etc. They are just doing what English soccer has become to lazy to do: train!

Mark on December 12, 2011 at 11:00 pm

Don’t want to take too much credit away from that Barcelona win, was a fantastic achievement and performance they did with 10 men, but that was a Barcelona team with no Iniesta… Big difference. Plus Ibra never fitted in that system. Mourinho’s ultimate test is now…

Qwe on December 13, 2011 at 4:43 am

Total Football was invented in the 1970’s- if it was invincible we wouldn’t be sitting here having this conversation. Ajax had 2 teams that won the European cup/CL, however they were each limited to one specific generation of players. The Ajax that was european champion in the early 70’s and mid 90’s were separated by 20 years. Likewise, Barca had to wait 12 years to make another CL final appearance after their last one with Cruyff in the mid 90’s. If what you were saying was true, the success of these 2 clubs would’ve been handed down from one generation to the next.

raul693 on December 11, 2011 at 2:40 am

Entertaining match and quite a fascinating tactical battle (if it’s fair to call it that since Guardiola triumphed in every aspect), here’s my view:

1) First of all, and since I read your post on ball-playing keepers a week ago, it’s worth mentioning that Barcelona always kept true to their roots, disregardless of what happened in the first minute they always built play from the back. I feel this game really proves the point form your article, it’s better to concede 1 goal this way a couple of times in a season than granting your opponents ball control via reckless clearances that give away possession.

2) I agree the presence of Ozil instead of, say Khedira, did leave a lot of space for Messi, maybe Mourinho had more confidence in his side given the recent form (though if that’s the case one can’t help but wonder why they didn’t capitalize better on their lead). Also, and this is pure speculation, one can’t help but wonder that the use of that extra enforcer could have resulted in more booking in midfield and perhaps even a red card for Madrid like in past games, but we’ll never know…

3) Fabregas positioning was horrendous, at times it seemed Barcelona were playing with 10, particularly in the first half, Guardiola’s reading was smooth by pulling him back definitely and pushing Iniesta higher up the pitch. Nevertheless, Cesc did close the game.

4) The Coentrao over Arbeloa blunder, though perhaps not as obvious in the first half as in the second, it did seem like a mistake in selection from the start, defensively speaking Arbeloa is a more accomplished defender than Coentrao, so with Mourinho not expecting any type of overlapping from his right back it’s hard for me to see why he went with his compatriot instead of the Spaniard at right-back.

5)Finally, the real game changers deserve their plaudits, Alexis Sanchez and Messi’s movement was spectacular, and the first goal is a reward to that. Also, their trickiness got a lot of fouls and booking from Madrid players and that is a priceless factor in a game like this.

matt on December 11, 2011 at 6:35 am

For all of the criticism of Coentrao, he did make a tremendous tackle to deny a goal during Barca’s period of dominance in the second half. It’s not his fault that Iniesta was regularly given 15 yards to accelerate before meeting him, that was on the midfield.

I’ve got it on good authority that a couple of the Barca coaches are concerned with Fabregas’ directness – think he makes Barca’s attacks too vertical and that it’s rubbing off on the other players…

Greekfreak on December 11, 2011 at 11:40 am

One of my only criticisms about Barca was their stubbornness to launch missles instead of what they usually try to do which is to thread the ball in the net–especially considering the amount of talented sharpshooters at their disposal. I’m not debating the effectiveness of their preferred strategy, but there are some shots that cannot be stopped by any goalkeeper, and a little more of this would put that much more fear into the opposition.

If that gossip about Fibreglass is true, then expect him to see more bench time if this match was any indication.

David Villa’s meagre participation in such a big fixture makes a January trade even more possible–now would be the best time to offload him for maximum profit.

lego house on December 11, 2011 at 12:35 pm

I don’t get to see many (any?) spanish league games so can someone tell me what’s up with Villa? Cos he seems to have a pretty decent scoring record so what exactly is he doing wrong? He seems to have become less favoured in the last season or so.

Riccardo on December 11, 2011 at 12:48 pm

Isn’t his directness, among other things, what Barca bought him for? Xavi and Iniesta are better midfielders but neither would have scored the goal Fabregas scored last night.

David on December 11, 2011 at 2:11 pm

I think this is both his value and his weakness to the team. Cesc has worked well as a quasi-striker because he always looks for Messi, or to receive a ball on a killer run. However, he can’t do the job of an Iniesta or Xavi for the same reason; it’s a kind of impatience, though one that can fit well into the team shape.

I think his presence allows Guardiola flexibility: by playing Fabregas up high, he uses his combinations with Messi but allows the team to be more possession oriented deeper; by using Fabregas in MF, he pushes the team to get the ball more quickly to Villa/Sanchez, and Fabregas will still pop up forward, but Barca will control the ball and tempo less.

It’s also interesting to watch when he and Silva play for Spain, they take more dribbles, look for more long, Scholes-esque crossfield passes, look to pass more quickly to the outside/wingers, and to pass to or make runs forward. An analogy – Xavi:Fabregas::Schweinsteiger:Gerrard

Anonymous on December 12, 2011 at 7:59 pm

pep has actually commented on this after a couple matches and used words like cesc’s “anarchy” and “chaos” … he didnt seem to be lamenting it at all…

ttmumbiys on December 11, 2011 at 4:20 pm

OOH have you got contacts with barca?

Carbo on December 11, 2011 at 7:33 pm

I’ve thought for some time that Barca have blundered putting Fabregas right into the team. He appears to be playing brilliantly, but I do think that he has disrupted the pattern of the rest. This little nugget you have from the coaches appears to confirm this. Of course, it’s impossible to drop him, what with the way he dovetails with Messi and scores so many, but it might have been worthwhile taking the Shankly route of buying a big name player and then sticking him in the reserves/on the bench for a year to “teach him how to play football”.

K on December 11, 2011 at 1:02 pm

I believe Arbeloa picked up an injury and that’s why Mourinho played Coentrao. I doubt Coentrao was Mou’s first choice.

Barca’s recent match against Rayo Vallecano was a template for this match. Barca transitioned between shapes fluidly. In particular – they transitioned from a 4 man backline to a three man backline moving Alves into midfield and then onto the wing (overall went from 4-3-3 to 3-4-3 to 3-5-2).

They made an analagous transition today.

What linked the two matches was Guardiola fielding an initial set up that was explicitly formulated for flexibility. It was designed to change depending on game situation. It seems that played that Rayo match as an experiment in preparation for the Clasico.

After the match Guardiola reportedly said that the Barca plan was to start out in a 4 man backline and then move to a three man backline after a few minutes to create confusion and camouflage how they were defending at the back.

4-3-3 to 3-4-3 to 3-5-2; it was all those and none at once! Pep is trying to create a stad alone system that allows the freedom for players to adapt formation to find the spaces needed to win. The scary thing is, its still a work in progress: messi was WALKING after the 3-1

or to quote euler himself: they reached the total football triple point

“Seeing water exist at its triple point, reminds you that there are possibilities hidden all around us that we never experience on a day to day basis but that under the right conditions – with enough energy and work – can emerge. And when those latent possibilities do emerge they produce the unlikely beauty we call wonder.
Barcelona played at its triple point against Villarreal. It was everything all at once. Fluid and shaped. Heat and ice. Solid but somehow still vaporizing.
And they did all of this in response to crisis. Who could have foreseen this kind of brilliance, these kinds of hidden possibilities under such circumstances?
This is what Guardiola and his players have now created. Football at its triple point. The unlikely circumstances of wonder.”

Euler
September 19, 2011 at 3:28 pm
Barcelona really functions as a complex adaptive system that is built with a few “simple rules.” What holds the ensemble together is the levels of tacit knowledge they share.
In general the key feature for how Barcelona plays and why they are so hard to beat and so difficult to mimic or copy is that they play with extraordinary degrees of tacit knowledge.
Let me be specific – I could provide you with very detailed, formalized instructions on how to ride a bicycle. I could get expert input on the best way to do that and I could standardize that procedure set.
But if I gave those instructions to you and you didn’t know how to ride a bicycle they wouldn’t really help you at all.
That’s because the knowledge involved is largely tacit. It’s implicit and difficult to verbalize or to make explicit in formal systems.
Now all systems have varying degrees of explicit and implicit knowledge. You have to have both. If you make everything explicit then the system becomes too rule heavy and bureaucratic. Make it too implicit and it can tumble into disorganization. There’s a spectrum.
It’s just that barcelona (like Ajax of Michels and Cruyff before them) play with enormous amounts of implicit/tacit knowledge. The system depends on that. There are explicit formalizations e.g. create triangles, one touch the ball, etc. – but those explicit formalizations are only a minimal handful to create a basic organization to work off of.
It’s like Messi’s assist to Fabregas on the ball over the top – he just senses and knows what Fabregas is going to do. If you were to ask Messi how he knows I’d bet he would have trouble even verbalizing it. He just “knows.” That’s based on a large set of variables combining together. Vision, talent, training, experience, insight, etc.
It’s that dynamic mix of variables through which communication is mediated. It’s that dynamic mix that really can’t be copied. That’s why organizational culture is so important (and true of any organization).
That’s why it’s so difficult to copy. It’s why Batista’s attempts to restructure ARG like Barca were going to fail.
It’s also one of Mourinho’s biggest problems at RM. His system depends on relatively high degrees of explicit formalism e.g. at Inter – Eto’o your role is to remain on the wing and play deep to track runs and only advance when a clear opportunity presents itself, etc.
It’s very difficult for a system based on explicit knowledge to beat one based on implicit knowledge. Very, very hard. Not impossible but very difficult.

Riccardo on December 11, 2011 at 6:01 pm

Great post. Barca’s play is basically telepathic. You can be a great footballer by playing with your head up, but i always think truly great footballers do things instinctively. Theres no way Xavi always has his head up looking for Iniesta, he just knows where he is.

BerkeleyBernie on December 12, 2011 at 5:19 am

It’s actually more the opposite. Xavi is *constantly* swiveling his head and assessing the field; he *does* know where everyone is. Iniesta, on the other hand, made some fantastic blind assists against Levante where he had his eyes on receiving the pass and never looked directly at his intended recipient.

Sparkz on December 11, 2011 at 2:50 am

Mourinho’s gamble backfired similar to how Fergie’s did in the Wembley final back in May.

Fergie started with a central attacking playmaker (Rooney) behind the striker (Hernandez). Mourinho started with a central attacking playmaker (Ozil) behind the striker (Benzema).

On both occasions, playing an extra, more defensive minded midfielder and leaving 1 up top would’ve made more sense, as it cuts the room that Messi gets, no? Basically what Capello did against Spain.

I know Barca are very fluid, so it’s difficult..but surely playing 3 solid midfielders (one to face Xavi, one to face Iniesta, one to go up against Messi when he drops deep) is the best way to go? Fair enough, you’re leaving Busquets with a lot of time on the ball (unless the lone striker drops onto his toes like Van Persie did at the Emirates in February)….but out of those 4 players, he’s the one who’d worry me the least. As long as all the other players are being tracked, let him have the ball!

In the end, the likes of Xaviesta and Messi will come deep looking for the ball, which is where you want them, as far away from goal as possible.

Sparkz on December 11, 2011 at 2:53 am

Saying all of that though….if Ronaldo took his chances, particularly at 2-1 down, we wouldn’t be having this discussion at all!

Andre on December 11, 2011 at 6:23 am

Sparkz is right, Mourinho nailed his tactics for the first half and start of the second. If Ronaldo just did his job, then they can hold out the final 30 minutes win/draw. Classic Mourinho, but I’m getting tired of Madrid superstars disappearing in the big games.

True, but in a different way. They did not miss them by stupidity or inability or wrong decisions, but due to the brillant saves of Casillas. E.g., CR7’s chance for 2:0 – the shot was not even on target, though he should have anyhow passed out to DiMaria who was completely free. Etc…

raul693 on December 11, 2011 at 3:01 am

I think we can all agree Ozil playing from the start wasn’t Mourinho’s most brilliant choice for the day, that said, if he was so confident in using that extra attacker, I can’t help but think Kaka was better suited for the game, his approach is much more direct, he’s faster and Madrid were always gonna look to score a goal from the break even if they hadn’t taken the lead in 22 seconds.

Marta on December 11, 2011 at 4:00 am

As soon as ozil out for kaka, madrid’s midfield was run over very easily. ozil is a much balance player than kaka, mou’s choice was right and madrid did played better in first half and could have burried the game before half time had ronaldo hasn’t messed up his chances. Mou’s idea of using ozil was not at fault

raul693 on December 12, 2011 at 3:09 pm

I think the lack of control had nothing to do with Kaka for Ozil, it was more of a direct consequence to the way the match had completely overturned for Madrid, even with 3 defensive midfielders and a goal down in the score they would have lost any kind of control in midfield.

Agree, I thought it was similar to Wembley too – essentially had too much faith in their usual system

David on December 11, 2011 at 3:07 am

In my opinion, the reason Alves can thrive in the right-winger postion in Barca(unlike in the national team) is the difference in his role. He plays like an advanced-wing-back (Maggio?) whenever he is used at that position in Barca, whilst in the national team he was asked to play like an actual attacking winger. His assist today also came from a counter-attacking situation, like an overlapping fullback’s cross creating a goal. This is possible because of Barca’s dominance in the midfield zone, which forces the opponents’ defense focusing on the central zone and thus leaving Alves free on the right flank.

Generally, I think Barca could win because Ronaldo was awfully useless in Madrid’s attack. He blew an excellent chance in the first half which was kinda similar to Rooney’s equalizer in last CL final (though it didn’t come from a throw-in), and he also missed a free-header that came from a set-piece in the second half. (And right after that situation Real conceded another goal.)

So I disagree with the idea that Mourinho’s approach was wrong. Despite Ozil and Di Maria’s unsatisfactory performances, until 1-2, Madrid did create enough number of chances from pressing and set-pieces. They just failed to convert them. Roanldo must improve his performance against Barca if Real want to win against Barca while maintaining their usual attacking style. “Usual attacking style” means that the key players of the both team -Messi and Ronaldo- are let free and allowed of space. If Ronaldo is not a match to Messi in attack, then Real is playing with a huge disadvantage from the beginning with the tactic.

Marta on December 11, 2011 at 3:57 am

Ozil & Di Maria, along with Benzema was the reason Madrid even able to create those chances which Ronaldo ruined most of them.

Greekfreak on December 11, 2011 at 11:43 am

Agreed. Ronaldo is the Mama Cass of football, and he choked on a big Barca sandwich last night.

If his career ended tomorrow, his epitaph would be “Made Michael Ballack look like a winner.”

Iason on December 11, 2011 at 3:14 am

I think this is probably the best we have played this season. I think most Barca fans will acknowledge that we haven’t reached the heights of last season. Good, not great. And I’m not talking about the results. The huge wins haven’t been signs of playing as well as last season, and the lost to Getafe and draws against Bilbao and Sevilla haven’t been sings that we have been worse than last season. Just the overall play hasn’t been as fast. Sanchez and Cesc finding their feet in the last few weeks has been a HUGE help in getting Barca back to rhythm in time for the clasico. Sanchez’s dribbling and scoring have been important in helping Messi out and completing the offense, and Cesc’s runs and connection with Messi has been important in giving us more variety in our attack. Still not QUITE as brilliant as last season, but with these two players, we don’t always have to be. It is important for a team to be able to win without being in their best form. Sanchez and Cesc help that happen.

Jonathan on December 11, 2011 at 3:26 am

Awesome read as usual!

johannes cruijff on December 11, 2011 at 3:28 am

As I said before the match, mental approach. Puyol eated Ronaldo, Iniesta had great game, Sanchez also, and so on…

Barcelona conceded goal within 30 seconds, at Santiago Bernabeu, against Real Madrid, with -6 points… And they didn’t lose they nerve, they didn’t fall apart.
They played they game, and they were bloody good!

You all probably saw movie 300, well, Barcelona players are like those 300, brave, having they own style of play, all for one, one for all…

Real is like those Persians, group of mercenaries, they are good, very good, but against Barcelona? No way, not this Barcelona!

Iason on December 11, 2011 at 3:35 am

Okay, I think I need help in defining Busquets’ position. When Barcelona were in possession, he moved ahead of the defense and marked a player (Ozil?). He took away a passing option. Yet, as soon as Madrid strung over two passes together and got full possession of the ball, Busquets quickly dropped to CB and turned it into a solid back four. Then Xavi and Iniesta/Cesc dropped back and covered as makeshift defensive midfielders.

Marta on December 11, 2011 at 3:54 am

I don’t understand why the use of Ozil was considered as unsuccessful?
Didn’t Madrid played better in first half when he was on?
He linked up very well with Benzema & Di Maria in chance creation, even though didn’t directly make key passes he was involved a lot in the play leading to chances?
He also hold the ball very well and made a good run & pressure well, madrid’s midfield wasn’t run over when he was on because he did the job very well.
Madrid could have gotten the better result had they took their chances in first half.
The other mistake was subbing out ozil for Kaka which weaken the midfield.

lefthog on December 11, 2011 at 4:04 am

i agree. My expectation was that Mourinho would play a 4-3-3 with Alonso, Khedira and Diarra.
He would then use Ozil as a wild card to introduce after around an hour. Either for Diarra/Khedira, if they needed to chase a goal, or for DiMaría/Benzema when the trivote worked well.

raul693 on December 12, 2011 at 3:19 pm

I don’t understand why people believe Kaka weakens the midfield, Ozil doesn’t offer exceptional pressing and, at least by today standards, he’s a “weak” player (don’t get me wrong, he’s fascinating when used properly), he tires very fast!

lefthog on December 11, 2011 at 4:00 am

On the Real side of analysis, this match showed that when Ronaldo does not produce on offense, he is an utterly useless player. In a match were every single possession is extremely precious, he gave the ball away seemingly every time. Added to the fact that he has almost no defensive value, Mourinho has to face the question of leaving him on the bench for the next clasico (sounds crazy I know but tonight Madrid were with ten men).

For Guardiola the tinkering in the last months paid off today. In the six Clasico this year Madrid handled Barcelona rather well defensively. They still were not able to beat Barcelona but Real were getting closer. That is because Mourinho knew the basic shape and personnel which Guardilola was going to play (a 4-3-3 with Xavi and Busquets in the middle, Alves as right back and Messi as the LONE false nine etc.).
This allowed Real to create specific one-on-one battles to cope with Barcelona’s movement (Pepe vs Messi, Khedira vs Iniesta, etc.). Mourinho was also able to pin Dani Alves back with the threat of Ronaldo.

but with the 3-4-3 that Barcelona introduced after going down tonight, they were able
– to handle Ronaldo with Puyol;
– have Alves free to provide width on the right;
– flood the midfield with Xavi, Busquets, Messi and one of Iniesta or Fabregas.
All this while still having good organization to cope with Real Madrid counterattacks, which rarely posed an immediate threat.

As good as Barcelona were last season, Mourinho and the world knew how Guardiola would line up his team. This time Mourinho did not.

Sekula on December 11, 2011 at 4:06 am

Spot on about Ronaldo. He is a brilliant player nevertheless, but most of his contribution is utterly direct. While Messi can be quite useful even sans obvious contribution, Ronaldo needs to score or directly influence a match to be effective. Needless to say, he is yet to do so against Barcelona.

David L. on December 11, 2011 at 6:55 pm

Good post! Excellent point about last year vs. this year. Pep has more tools to work with, allowing him to be more creative and unpredictable. This is crazy, because Barcelona can be unpredictable on the pitch even when you know where they are lining up. Adding another layer of unpredictability? Hmmm…

I have one minor (tongue-in-cheek but still somewhat serious) quibble: people would have noticed if Madrid were down to 10 men without Cristiano because more of their free kicks would have found teammates or the target.

I don’t understand why Alonso doesn’t take every free kick anywhere near the area. Cristiano is such a crapshoot (i.e. is it going into the wall, into the crowd, just wide of the target, on target?) whereas Alonso seems to deliver balls with a lot more consistency (i.e. other players could actually be prepared for what is going to happen with a free kick) and he seems to create golden chances for teammates far more often.

I’m glad it happens the way it does, because I’m no Madrid fan, but it seems crazy to me that everyone talks about how dangerous CR is on set pieces, when I think he might be far more dangerous on the receiving end of service from Alonso.

Yang on December 11, 2011 at 4:11 am

I have no confidence with C-Ronaldo in Big match. He could decide match quite easily considering his own capability. Somehow, He always under-perform in tight match which I really feel weird.

Don’t think tactic decide game although it is always interesting to see tactical side of game. I respect Mr Mou, He provide at least good chance to beat Barcelona but Real-M Ace cannot take his chances.

MMT on December 11, 2011 at 4:13 am

Seems as if Barca’s system is best understood with some idea of where the ball just was, where it is now, and where it is going to be. 3 in back becomes 4, then 3 again (only Xavi drops deep to pick up the ball); the midfield 4 becomes 3 as Alves creeps down the line, etc. Btw, interesting how Alves would often drop inside (almost as a central midfielder), rather than come straight back to defend.

James on December 11, 2011 at 4:19 am

Some quick reactions to the game…
1. Ronaldo is a great player… but no where near the level of EITHER Messi or Iniesta
2. Iker Casillas is a top 5 goalkeeper… but no where near the level of Manuel Neuer
3. The combination of Sanchez/Messi/Iniesta best Barca have had during Mourinho era
4. Difference between two sides is the play in midfield, Barca have unbelievable rhythm while stringing passes while we have none
5. Until we can consistently string 5 passes in a row, yes 5 passes, against Barca, it will be incredibly difficult to beat them
6. Angel Di Maria should be applauded for his constant pressure tonight and no dives
7. Mesut Ozil never could get into the game due to Reaction #4
8. Coentrao played very well, our best defender tonight
9. Xabi Alonso not a difference maker against Barca due to Reaction #4
10. Ramos-Pepe combination worked reasonably well
11. Marcelo was poor tonight, no attacking threat while Alves had a field day

john on December 11, 2011 at 6:14 am

i also think xabi alonso’s importance is overrated, of course his regulating and passing skills is a value but he still is slow as hell, maybe sahin could take his place (didn’t see him play yet for madrid), because he can regulate enough the play while having a bigger enough volume of play to take alonso’s seat

I think this Madrid team is built for the counter-attack, power and pace all over the pitch. It would be best for Alonso if Madrid sat deep, denied Barca space, and let him fire his long cross-field passes to Ronaldo/Di Maria/Higuain. Pack the midfield, pace up front and play counterattacking football.

Andre on December 11, 2011 at 9:31 pm

I disagree with number 2, Casillas save on Messi was brilliant and there was nothing he could do about the three goals.

James on December 11, 2011 at 4:23 am

I just don’t understand how Ozil can play so well for Germany, but just disappear for Real Madrid.

Marta on December 11, 2011 at 4:47 am

He wasn’t disappear today though, just being less direct to balance the direct play of the others around him. Subbing him out was a mistake imo.

Diverinho on December 11, 2011 at 1:01 pm

Yes it was. Cannot reasonably believe that he was tired after 60mins when he was being rested for the CL.
And indeed, Özil did not have a ‘free’ role, as ZM suggested. He had more work to do defensively than CR7, although that one is supposed to be the more physical guy.

Agree about that. Ozil had many responsibilties when pressing whether deeper or pressing the centre back. I don’t think Ronaldo’s pressing is as good as Di Maria’s either

Ryan on December 11, 2011 at 5:12 am

He disappeared vs. Spain in 2010 too; he just doesn’t do as well when denied time on the ball. He needs to improve against that press, because playing against Barca and Germany isn’t going to end anytime soon!

Andre on December 11, 2011 at 6:21 am

When the other players around him are good/playing well, he will make them even better. Ozil upgrades an attacking force, he can’t change a game on his own.

K on December 11, 2011 at 7:52 am

Your statement is very flawed. Ozil indeed plays extremely well for Germany. He also plays extremely well for Real Madrid. Arguably the key player to both sides. However, Ozil “disappeared” vs spain(most similar to barca)in WC as he did vs Barca in a RM shirt.

So in essence Barca/Spain are Ozil’s kryptonite, mainly because he is unable to dictate the terms/pull strings due to his side being over-run in midfield.

I don’t think he was especially poor in today’s match(i.e. not many mis-controls/bad passes), its just that with the team layouts/tactics he was always going to have trouble having as much direct impact as RM are used to him having. And as far being subbed out, I think that move was pre-determined to happen around the hour mark no matter what the scoreline was.

Diverinho on December 11, 2011 at 1:07 pm

“And as far being subbed out, I think that move was pre-determined to happen around the hour mark no matter what the scoreline was.”
Maybe it was – but why? Because Mourinho has the 60min alarm clock on to remind him: “Oh hell, we have to sub off Özil”. What kind of tactics would that be, to sub a player at a given time unrespectful of what the actual circumstances are. This simply would not make any sense… Unless Kaka has “at least 30mins playing time for the clasicos” in his contract.

Jota on December 11, 2011 at 4:31 pm

Well, that’s because Mourinho never knows if he will see the end of a game from the bench. So he has to give instructions in advance…

Diverinho on December 11, 2011 at 6:53 pm

Hehe, good one, made me laugh

Diverinho on December 11, 2011 at 12:55 pm

Because first of all, national sides are in average weaker than club sides, especially Barcelona. And then with Germany he basically plays in a better team than in Real Madrid, at least in terms of footballing intelligence. Let me explain that:
- Klose vs Benzema: both similarly ‘intelligent’, but Klose still additionally the better striker in terms of heading, work rate and overall goalscoring.
- Podolski vs Ronaldo. Both being similarly direct in their play, Podolski still does more defensive work for the team, and always stretching the play. And not being a complete egomanic maniac.
- Müller vs diMaria. Maybe one of the key improvements. Müller physically less gifted than diMaria (less quick), still is a thousand times more quick in foreseeing the development of moves, and simply knowing what to do. More intelligent, more goal.
- Khedira stays Khedira
- Schweinsteiger vs. Alonso. Well, it’s obvious that Schweini is a much better deep-lying playmaker AND a better tackler and ball-winner than Alonso.
- Lahm vs Marcelo. Lahm wins it…
- Rest of the defence plus goalkeeper comparable. Though Neuer offers better passing and precise throws and kicks for quick breaks…

The ‘problem’ with Barca/Spain is, that those teams know how to defend intelligently, and know how crucial it is to mark and stifle players like Özil.

my_heroine on December 11, 2011 at 1:00 pm

It’s all thanks to Sergio Busquets!

Diverinho on December 11, 2011 at 1:08 pm

You might be just right about that one. Busquets has been absolutely fantastic in switching off Özil.

Cogito on December 11, 2011 at 5:04 am

An interesting game, but one certainly gets the feel that although Barca certainly finished comfortably, Ronaldo effectively lost the game for Real. His unwillingness to track back certainly encouraged Barcelona’s change in formation, while his poor shooting and decision making cost himself and his teammates. His famous dribbling really didn’t turn up either, he seemed to be perfectly willing to turn on some well-executed stepovers, but really that was all for show, I don’t think he ever beat more than one man in a row at any point, and he couldn’t consistently get past anyone. Iniesta and Messi, on the other hand …

A broader point on Barcelona’s tactics … does anyone else see the parallels between how they eventually set out here (in particular, the deeper, more conservative wingers) and their use of a CB/CDM was similar to Bayern v. Man Utd in 2010? Replace Busquets with the admittedly far inferior Demichelis and you see something of a similar principle. With a 4-4-1-1 push a CB forwards and you get a diamond in midfield, and no deficit in wide areas (unlike 4-3-1-2 teams). Bayern and Barcelona even had forwards with similar profiles in a physical, hard pressing poacher who ran channels tirelessly (Sanchez/Olic) and then an attacking midfielder in behind able to change from a strike partner to an advanced midfielder at will (Messi/Mueller). In both cases, the deeper wide men (in particular Iniesta/Altintop) seemed to be able to beat their man at will, no doubt in part due to the extra space created by playing away from fullbacks and with the central midfielders distracted by the fake-diamond formed when the CB steps forwards.

Barcelona have taken this Van Gaal idea farther still though (how could they not!) by deploying defensive fullbacks to have the back-3/4 split, neutralizing the issue of non-existent defence when the CB steps forwards. This was particularly effective against the aforementioned Ronaldo, but Di Maria too looked troubled (wasting many passes, though overall still having a good game). The defensive fullbacks and 3/4 split defence seems to work well against the now fashionable wide forwards (Hulk, Ronaldo, Robben, Walcott, etc.) who don’t really want to drop deeper and play as wide midfielders, but are simultaneously too dangerous to be left alone, especially against an attacking fullback (Guardiola’s switch outlined in the article perfectly illustrates this switch from theory to practice).

Out of all the wide forwards mentioned above it is worthy of note that Robben is probably most resistant to this form of defence, as (in spite of his ego) he is better at passing and shooting from in front of, rather than behind a defence, and is well suited to switching positions and methods of attack (against Lyon, for example, he took up all three berths in a 4-2-3-1, and recently Heynckes wants him to switch at will, or double up with Ribery).

money on December 11, 2011 at 7:08 am

that makes sense. also, barcelona don’t waste passes like every other team.

I think it is interesting how this three see differences between the shapes in only one match. That’s how fascinating football is at this point.

And Guardiola is the best coach in the world, definitely.

hoppinmad on December 11, 2011 at 5:09 am

I love the tactical analysis and I am sure Pep made some inspired changes. However, Barecelona’s victory may just be due to the fact that Barcelona’s current generation of players are technically better than their contemporaries.

Joe90 on December 11, 2011 at 5:25 am

Agreed – tactics is one thing, but the players have to have the ability and the fitness to pull them off.

Iason on December 11, 2011 at 6:04 am

maybe…

This is a tactics website though, so…

hoppinmad on December 11, 2011 at 6:29 am

My point was that Mourinho has tried so many tactical formations against this Barca team and still comes up short. If his tactics are spot on, something must make the difference. One example is that Guardiola just outthinks him every time they play. Is that possible for a coach of Mourinho’s calibre? So the difference must come down to the players and their abilities, i.e. technique, belief, toughness.

Qwe on December 11, 2011 at 10:32 am

Hoppinmad,
You’re exactly right but you need to understand that some people like to overanalyze things…

That Barcelona’s players are technically better is given; usually Barca’s victories over Real have been because of a focus on that rather than because of tactics…this was different

john on December 11, 2011 at 5:16 am

Wow ! i didn’t see sanchez’s positioning, i thought he was on the right like in Udinese… I guess the little elves enchanted me with their little passes

damn it i want to look the game again with a tactical mind now… it’s your fault ZM ^^

Joe90 on December 11, 2011 at 5:23 am

Really interesting read about the tactics, and I know this site is only about the tactical issues of The Game…

BUT

I think Barcelona are very lucky to have not been on the end of a thrashing, as Messi deserved a second yellow. Dissent and a reckless tackle is two yellows and then a red.

I’m not a conspiracy theorist by any stretch, so I think the ref simply choked.

And not very deeply-down everyone who watched the game knows this.

Brian on December 11, 2011 at 5:48 am

Joe90, Messi’s tackle on Alonso was hardly reckless or at all card-worthy. Heck, in the Premier League, it might not even have been whistled at all.

It was from the side as much as it was from behind. He never really left his feet into a slide or anything. And he actively tried to keep contact as minimal as possible (angling in at a tricky, leaning posture – almost pulling out at the same time).

There was no great contact. It wasn’t violent.

It was really just a foul. Not a card at all. Any other match and we wouldn’t even be talking about it. If that was a card, Real would have been down to about 8 men by then.

Joe90 on December 11, 2011 at 6:07 am

I have no patience for the refereeing in the EPL – England is a nation of leg-breaking thugs of players.

Its direction is irrelevant.

If it was violent it would have been a straight red.

Perhaps Real should have been down to 8 men, as I don’t support either side.

The ref had his hand going towards his cards and that is a sure sign that it most likely should have been a card.

john on December 11, 2011 at 6:08 am

agreed, if pepe had been booked every time he did a foul like that he would have been sent off more than once in all the clasicos…

Andre on December 11, 2011 at 6:56 am

If you watch the replay, you’ll notice the ref whistle the challenge and reach straight for his pocket. As Messi rises and the ref notices you see him remove his hand from his card pocket. The english commentary picked up on this as well – the challenge was worth a yellow (at a time the game was getting heated, so a borderline challenge would be carded by a good ref to set the tone) but not worthy of a second yellow as it wasn’t that bad. It’s in the funny grey area of foul worth a yellow but not worth a second yellow. I must say it was an excellent referee performance – not falling for acting from either side and taking no nonsense. Full marks.

john on December 11, 2011 at 7:18 am

@ Andre the second yellow for messi would have been -let’s say- acceptable because it suited the beginning of the ref’s refereeing, but still i think it would have been harsh, the game was refereed spanish style: every foul with a possible tactical strategy behind it led to a booking, but the game style was too intense for this type of refeering simply because the players’s fouls where ‘outpaced’ fouls and not ’synical tactical’ fouls

But i admit it’s easy to say and harder to referee because of the intensity of the game, the marge between ‘outpaced’, ‘tactical’ and ‘mean’ foul is minimal

In the messi case i think the referee logically assumed that messi was doing an ‘outpaced’ foul simply because he is messi and had just been booked so their is no way messi doing a tactical foul in this situation would have been a logical strategy for barcelona, because i’m sure guardiola would prefer messi letting go and even conceeding a goal than messi being sent off.

But still i conceide there is the feeling that messi did a ‘tactical’ foul because his mind was still not set to bewaring a second yellow, and also the split second “i’m messi no way he’ll dare send me off” thinking…

But seriously those things can happen many times in numberous games without us talking about it because it doesn’t concern messi…

Pintu on December 11, 2011 at 8:02 am

You’d really prefer Messi sent out after getting 2 yellows for some comment the referee didn’t like and a questionable at best foul? It would’ve been the kind of decision that destroys a good game, thank god the official had some sense left in him.

Greekfreak on December 11, 2011 at 11:51 am

The booking he did get was frivolous, and he was indeed lucky to escape the red card, even though on the replay there was no foul. If I were the ref, I would have given him the yellow for the tackle, but not the “dissent”, so he still would have continued.

The other thing is, if you’re the ref that sends Messi off and Madrid beats Barca, the pundits would have had a field day.

RM can blame CR minus 7 for missing two striker-proof sitters, but then that’s okay because he’s not a “striker”.

Otter on December 11, 2011 at 7:05 pm

The ref worked very hard to manage the match without sending players off. If I were on the Real Madrid bench, I would have had my heart in my mouth:
–in the 40th when Pepe shoved Alexis off the ball in the area, then aimed a kick at his stomach (just after Pepe’s 35th minute foul on Alexis that Messi was booked for complaining about), and it was ruled a throw-in
–in the 50th when Lass went in studs up on Busquets and was not booked
–in the 58th when Ramos fouled Alexis from behind as the last man and was not booked
–in the 69th when Ramos went in two-footed on Messi (two minutes after a hard foul on Alexis) and was only booked
–in the 72nd when Coentrao went in two-footed on Iniesta and was not booked

I’m not saying I disagree with any of the decisions above, but any team that gives the referee so many occasions to consider sending off its players has a serious discipline problem. I don’t think the referee choked; on the whole it was Real who benefited most from his efforts to keep all the players on the field.

Joe90 on December 12, 2011 at 12:43 am

The scrappiness intensifies as referees turn a blind eye to flashpoints in the game.

Dissent is dissent! Under no circumstances are players allowed to question a ref’s decisions!!!

It’s way out of control when players like Alves remonstrate in ways that would normally get his teeth knocked out were he in a bar.

Yet refs take it. They need to slam the cage shut at the first opportunity.

Rugby players take it silently. Footballers whine like two year olds everytime something doesn’t go their way.

It’s up to the refs to change this situation.

john on December 11, 2011 at 5:24 am

I have a question: mourinho said they were going to play 433, and they played 4231, is it me or Mourinho doesn’t care about this detail?

i’ve heard he said his teams always were with 2 players on each side, so he just doesn’t care about the positioning of his 3 central midfielders and assume it is done naturally by his players and the requirements of the game
from chelsea’s 4141 to inter’s 4213 to madrid’s 4231, he just calls them 433 lol

this also means no 3/5 men defenses and one striker only, excepted in specific game situations of course, no diamond milan like 442’s too

john on December 11, 2011 at 5:34 am

another thing about mourinho’s player selection and pressing choice: you say real’s pressing led them to earlier tiring etc but i think mourinho calculated that, he started di maria known for his defensive work rate, he did not start lass and khedira because the late booking would have been dangerous, knowing big games are often decided close to the end (he actually substituted lass for khedira a few minutes after lass’s booking), he also stared ozil who never impressed in the clasico to be able to put a fresh kaka in the money time (he did not have a third defensive midfielder option after khedira and lass i think?)

also after the di maria higuain change benzema moved to the left, where he actually excels on leading counter attacks

so i think all theses decisions were calculated to match the big pressing option, who is very close to being the one and only hope ^^

P.S.: as always i’ve commented before reading so sorry if i repeated stuff already said…

Diverinho on December 11, 2011 at 1:29 pm

Özil never impressive in the Clasico? You surely did not watch all of them. Remember the return match of the Spanish league last season. That ended 1-1, and Real had turned the game around being at 10 men, when Mourinho brought Özil for Alonso. Özil basically created the equaliser himself, and nearly the 2:1 if I recall correctly. Furthermore at the two supercup matches preseason: He scored the 1:0 at the Bernabeu, after a nice combination with Benzema. Surely, Mourinho hoped a similar thing would happen again yesterday.

john on December 11, 2011 at 6:28 pm

maybe you’re right ^^
i saw them all but there were so many…

but still it’s not the first time he’s transparent in a clasico

Brian on December 11, 2011 at 5:38 am

I do not agree–or think it too facile to say–that Real gave Messi too much space. Messi was almost always closely marked. When he would receive the ball, it was often at (and because of) a sprint toward the ball-carrier – rarely easy until that lull in the second half (even then… ). And then he was generally immediately marked.

The only times Messi had much space he created it for himself. I remember a couple of gorgeous turns–one in several parts–with one or two Real players closely on him. And then that uncanny acceleration of his. Somehow deceptive and then violent.

Then he had space. Because of his speed and skill. Not because of tactics or defensive lassitude. He hadn’t had space when he had received the ball.

I don’t remember too many times when he was able to just cruise to the ball and then cruise away with it.

Of course, Messi had space at times (generally when moving pretty fast) but it was rarely simply accorded him. I remember his defenders working terribly hard to keep close on him. And failing.

“Messi was almost always closely marked.” Really? When watching the game for a second time I couldn’t believe his freedom of movement

Diverinho on December 11, 2011 at 6:57 pm

Seems like Busquets was doing to Özil what Ramos (or Pepe) should have done to Messi…

Zero on December 11, 2011 at 5:47 am

I’m a bit confused by Mourinho’s tactics in this game. He seems to have essentially gone for an attacking formation and end-to-end game, which made it ultimately into a matter of luck and finishing, which it ended up being. While I can understand not wanting to change Real’s tactics for one game, generally speaking they’ve been using them against weaker opposition who miss the chances they have while Real have had plenty more, while Barcelona are essentially at the same level player-wise. It may have made more sense to go for something like using Pepe at defensive midfield or something of the sort, which would have made things less of a coin-flip. To be frank, Barcelona have hardly been as untouchable this season as some are portraying them, and these games are ultimately going to come down to a matter of tactics, and as much luck as these tactics allow for.

Andre on December 11, 2011 at 6:58 am

Mourinho’s tactics were spot on, leaving Barcelona flustered and the chunk of quality chances fell to Madrid. Unfortunately, horrible Ronaldo misses and a lucky deflection in Barca’s favour changed the game and broke Madrid’s resistance.

john on December 11, 2011 at 6:06 am

I think madrid should play a 442 with benzema as the left striker, higuain or ronaldo next to him (ronaldo on the right if higuain selected);
coentrao as the LB, marcelo in front of him, and possibly drop xabi alonso in midfield for lass+khedira+ronaldo/ozil/else on the right

Why? Because marcelo and benzema are the best at leading counter attacks on the left and that’s madrid’s most dangerous move.

of course barcelona would adapt and maybe guardiola would be very pleased to start his 343 against madrid

also i think the clasicos and pretty much every team against barcelona have shown that high intensive quick pressing always leads to barcelona with space and all they want in the last part of the game, so instead of big pressing and quick counter attacks mostly leading to no danger, madrid should make the ball move a lot more without really trying to score because with the big pressing choice even if you score a goal quickly it doesn’t work (see today)

so circulating the ball around (get the ball back, push it forward and then push it back to the defenders etc, instead of pushing it forward and losing it without the barcelona attackers needing to get back in defense) should buy madrid some time and precious energy they desperaticaly need at the end of the game…
of course at one point madrid would have to start a big pressing and trying every counter attack 100% but starting it late would mean they could finish without lacking too much energy (+ they can sacrifice 2/3 players early with substitutions)

Finally playing two strikers upfront would ensure them more physical presence in the box, but also if barcelona play their 343 it means more space for marcelo and benzema to work together on the left and maybe one defender less so higher chances on set pieces for example

the return match will be in barcelona, maybe with madrid still upfront so this more less tiring and more pragmatical/synical approach could be good

Andre on December 11, 2011 at 6:28 am

I think a narrow diamond is the best approach to Barca. You need cool heads at the back, powerful legs in the midfield, and potent strikers up front to beat them. Madrid with Marcelo-Ramos-Pepe-Coentrao at the back is solid. Diamond midfield; Alonso deepest, Khedira/Lass the ball winners and Sahin the deep tip. Benzema/Ronaldo (left/right respectively) up front playing in the space between fullback and centreback looking to run inside/create out wide. That middle of the field is where Barca kills teams, so shutting that down is crucial.

john on December 11, 2011 at 7:01 am

I agree that not being outnumbered in midfield is like the number one key (because outnumbered+outsmarted is just too much to cope with).

I think other key points to beat barca, are to take advantage of barcelona lopsidity (alves vs abidal mainly), in my madrid showcase it’s the marcelo benzema left combination but it could be another way for other teams maybe, and also you want to match their construction/attacking formation not their theorical defensive one (433), mainly coping with messi being a 10 faking to play 9 more than just a classic 9 sometimes dropping down

1* minimize your midfield disadvantage (you won’t outsmart them)
2* take advantage of their side (un)balance
3* defend against their attacking formation and not their defensive one

Actually i longly hoped a coach would dare play 3 at the back with a DM able to fit in more than a back four with a CB uncomfortable following messi to provide a heavily desired additional midfielder but now barcelona have signed fabregas and sanchez, and they can play a barca solid 343, they’re just too flexible to not cope instantly with such a tactical choice/risk…

There’s a human tendency to always strive to give fancy explanations to events that largely comes down to random variables. If that lucky 1-2 goal hadn’t occured, we would have been looking at an entirely different game state and all this “Mou got bumraped tactically” nonsense wouldn’t be discussed. In fact, if the game had ended 1-1 but with a similar tactical layout, a lot of people would be hailing Mourinhos tactical brilliance.

The truth is that apart from Messi (who might in the future be talked about in higher esteem than Maradona or Cruijff), Real Madrid and Barcelona are fairly equal quality wise. If you have both the greatest player in the world AND Lady Luck on your side, it’s only natural you will bag more than your fair share of El Clasicos. Without having to bumrape anyone tactically.

john on December 11, 2011 at 7:57 am

so the benzema early error flipper goal doesn’t count as anything close to luck to you?

Barca went down 1-0 in the first minute following a goalkeeper blunder and picked themselves up enough to score not one but three goals.

Pep kept changing things around and the changes were working, whilst Mou sat by watching his original gameplan being undone without reacting. When the “lucky” second goal came, it was not in contradiction with the game’s flow; it followed a spell of dominance by Barca for the entire second half up to that point and it was obvious that a goal was imminent one way or the other.

Pep is so often accused for being a mediocre coach blessed with great players, this last game should put this myth finally at rest.

“There’s a human tendency to always strive to give fancy explanations to events that largely comes down to random variables. If that lucky 1-2 goal hadn’t occured, we would have been looking at an entirely different game…”

Hmm. I’m not sure I’ve done that. I think I mentioned twice that the goal was fortunate in how it went in, but at that stage Barca were on top, as they were for much of the second half – it wasn’t against the run of play

The comment was more in response to the general attitude in the comments section than to your article, which was fascinating and thought provoking as always. But if I were pressed, I’d have to admit to feeling all sports journalism suffers from hindsight bias and results oriented thinking. Even mindblowingly good sports journalism, such as ZM.

master on December 11, 2011 at 2:16 pm

ah, another EPL fan or Mou fan or RM fan crying here talking about ethic.. it’s sad isn’t it? even for a saint to admit his defeat… i can take your words if you does not including the lady-luck word(Mou’s word actually) in your comment, but in here you showed your true intention, shame on you.. empty words by self proclaimed saint.. hahaha,

Greeko on December 12, 2011 at 9:39 pm

You can’t have it both ways. 2 years ago Barcelona got screwed by a volcano and a blown call. If Bojan’s goal goes in (which it rightly should have)against Inter its 2-0 and Barca goes thru and arguably wins a consecutive Champion’s League and now has 3 in a row. We also wouldn’t even be a having a special talk about a not so special one. He was hired to beat Barcelona and no one else. He has failed continually. We can go on and on. As earlier stated if Casillas does not stand on his head its 5-3.

Diverinho on December 11, 2011 at 8:39 am

I did not see Ozil as bad as ZM makes him, though he for sure did not ’shine’ in this match. He needed to do a lot of work simply that kept him too busy. And with Benzema the only ‘intelligent’ forward player of Madrid, it is difficult to create.
Btw, would have loved to see Özil and Kaka on the pitch together. I think Mourinhos changes were bad. Should have brought Kaka for Lass, to try catching up for the 2:2. Bring on Khedira for Özil later then. Also, could have brought Higuain or Callejon for Ronaldo, and move Benzema to the left. Would have been more of a challenge to Barca’s defence.

Barca: What can you say? Superb display of (also mental) strength, to come back after the early setback. Alexis – a dream of a multi-functional striker. And so cold-blooded in front of the goal.

Great match in total. No referee clogging, not dirty tackles nor dives.

Btw, I think Cristiano Ronaldo needs a psychatrist, for his goal anxiety…

A brilliant tactical victory for Guardiola. Who would have thought Barça would end the game with Alves and Iniesta as the wide attacking players. Barça are made of pretty strong stuff, after conceding a goal like that they continue to stick to their passing game out of defence and their patience was rewarded. Madrid on the other hand looked shocked by Barça’s equalizer and never really recovered. This is Barça’s advantage with having so many home grown players, the team spirit was very important to yesterday’s victory.

Qwe on December 11, 2011 at 10:59 am

If Real had put away those 2 excellent goal scoring opportunities, everyone would be talking about the effectiveness of JM’s tactics. We’d hear about the brilliance of Real’s press that led to the first goal and their tenaciousness throughout the match…
As the cliche says; “history is written by the victors”…

David L. on December 11, 2011 at 7:09 pm

And if Valdes doesn’t commit a howler even for a schoolboy, we’d be hearing about yesterday’s clean sheet.

Madrid always miss golden chances in these games; they’re not all that efficient in front of goal, even when they’re doing well. They win because they are able to create so many chances against inferior teams that are overrun. I’m not sure why everybody expects them to become efficient in a Clasico just because the situation calls for it.

Andre on December 11, 2011 at 9:39 pm

Valdes made a forced error – the pressure was immense, he wasn’t expecting it or comfortable with it, and he made a mistake.

Ronaldo made unforced errors, he had the space, the ball, and the chance; he just failed.

It’s a mental problem for Real, and I hope Jose figures a way to fix it.

Carlos A. on December 12, 2011 at 11:41 am

The pressure was immense in the TENTH SECOND of the game? Are you sure about that?

Alf on December 12, 2011 at 7:33 pm

VV mis-kicked the ball. He’s very accustomed to the pressure, it’s not like that was the first match he had played out from the back.

The error was more due to conditions (wet, long pitch) than to pressure.

Fred on December 11, 2011 at 10:09 am

Well said. Guardiola has shown how determined he is to weed out players who do not fit the “culture” of his team. If they are not going to contribute in the dressing-room, they won’t be there. Very interesting how, when he first talked about Sanchez at a press conference, he said that he was known as a “great guy”. Indeed, I understand Sanchez is very well liked because of his workrate and humility.

kay on December 11, 2011 at 10:24 am

Great analysis but i think you did not talk about the selfishness of Ronaldo. I guess Mour was rendered helpless tactically due to the largely ineffective C Ronaldo. When it was 1-0 he chose to go for glory when there was a better positioned Di Maria screaming for the ball. At 1-2 he missed a clear header. He made things difficult for Madrid who paid so much to acquire him! Glad bernabeu booed him

Janne on December 11, 2011 at 10:31 am

Disagree with Fabregas criticism in the first 20 minutes. He was one of the Barca players actually able to keep possession, along with Busquets.

Probably Fabregas still needs some more time to adapt to Barca’s system. What became obvious (not just) yesterday is how very brilliant Fabregas aerial play /heading abilities have become at Arsenal (in the PL). It is a long time ago since I saw such a nice cross plus diving header produce a goal in the Spanish league.
Fabregas offers yet a novel goalscoring possibility for Barca: (crosses plus) headers.

Anonymous on December 11, 2011 at 10:35 am

Another nail in the heart of transitional football.

Still, there are signs that Real (along with Germany) will be the next teams to emerge from the transitional wilderness and become pattern led/constraint led sides.

The idea of 3 functional/defensive middies completely misses the point that Barca cannot be stopped merely by tactical solutions.

The aggressive transition holds no terror for Barca.

It is still too early in the evolution of Sami K and Oezil to expect them to compete with Xavi, Biscuits, Iniesta and Fab.

kaneprior on December 11, 2011 at 10:46 am

Real Madrid- I believe they did well to get a goal in the first few mins, but in the end were well beaten. They got some tactical decisions wrong, ronaldo had a stinker and Barca threw some surprises none of us predicted (You gotta live football).

Starting from the back, I thought they were dominated in both formations barca played. I expected Coentrao to do better against Sanchez, but he was overloaded by iniesta also playing on the left, this was a smart move from Barca and he became the weak link in Madrids defense. Pepe had a shocker, I expected him and Ramos to handle messi but barca were smart and dropped messi deeper. Pepe ended up against Sanchez and lost out, he constantly let him go free and didnt manage to dispossess him once. Ramos did a better job, covering for his team mate and was probably the best madrid defender on the night. But i would have liked to see him copy Busquets and move out of defense to follow messi. It would have been risky but messi was enjoying too much space and pepe and coentrao could have moved more central. After the change Sancez occupied both CBs extremely well and made this impossible, while coentrao found the game easier just dealing with iniesta, mentally he was already beaten by barca and seemed scared to try and deal with iniesta, who was happy to go outwide on to coentrao’s wrong foot.

Marcelo pre barca change had alot of space to exploit and no opponent to mark. He got forward well and was a big danger to Barca. They reacted by moving alves forward to occupy him, and we didnt really see anymore of him, a quick neutralization of one of Madrids big threats within minutes. So defensively Real Madrid started with some weak links which gradually changed to the whole defense being tore apart (Ramos the only player not having a poor game, but still unable to stop barca scoring).

In midfield, Mourinho made some mistakes, namely including Ozil and not including Khedeira. Alonso was the only sure fire pick, and he was there best CM attacking wise as he successfully managed to get the ball forward to his team mates and link the attack with the defense (the only link after marcelo was occupied). But defensively, he left too much space between his defense and midfield. He had to keep an eye on xavi’s runs forward, make sure xavi didnt have too much time on the ball, and watch out for messi dropping deep. Alonso failed at this, though he wasnt given much support by his team mates. Alonso isnt the best at pressing, and so Xavi was given a lot of time on the ball, whilst trying to press xavi meant Alonso gave too much room to messi and isnt the sort of player you want facing messi dribbling. This key battle was won and it showed, as most of barca changed after 20 mins, but this didnt, fab messi and xavi stayed in a triangle within midfield, and if anything xavi moved deeper to try and exploit this weakness of alonso more.

Diarra was a predicted pick and was the complete different to Alonso. His passing was poor in transitions and usually just gave the ball away or didnt pick the right pass (maybe Kehedira should have played if he wasnt going to be featured further forward). But defensively he was solid, keeping Fabregas in check extremely well and even helping Coentrao deal with iniesta. But again he left too much space for messi to exploit trying to deal with these two and it almost seemed Madrid had forgotten to mark messi (probably believing he would player higher up and become the defenses problem).

The big mistake was playing Ozil as he was Real Madrids worst player. Offensively he was marked out the game by busquets, which Mourinho must of saw coming? Defensively he was poor, not dropping back to help madrid defend, and not pressing busquets effectively, there is a reason Germany leave Ozil high up the pitch and give there wingers the defensive work. Khedira would have surely been a better choice from the start (it would have been pointless bringing him on when Barca were winning). He could have played deeper and pressed Xavi who got too much time on the ball and left Alonso to drop deeper and deal with messi. This decision lead to Messi dominating the game so was a decision Mourinho had to get right, and he didnt.

On the wings, Di maria pressed excellently (directly leading to the goal) and caused abidal some problems when in possession. But on the ball Di maria didnt no much and gave it away to Barca just as much as he got it to his team mates. He was dealt with well by abidal (one of the best defensive LBs, as argued well above) and isolated from his team mates (only alonso could successfully get him into the game). Ronaldo was mixture of dangerous and shockingly poor. He managed to get into some great goalscoring positions where his finish completely let him down, that has to be down to mentally not being prepared for the pressure of this game, and comparing messi and ronaldo, you have to say one of the big difference is how Ronaldo fails to step up his games in moments like this. But he didnt enjoy any luck down the left, originally being up against Alves, he was already having a hard time, but when faced with puyol and alves after the change, he didnt get a sniff down the left and had to switch to the right, where he had just as hard a time against abidal.

Up front Benzema did a good job, getting himself a early goal and battling well with Pique, winning long balls forward and holding up the ball well, but this meant nothing if he wasnt being supported well as di maria played too wide, and ronaldo despite getting some good early chances due to good work from benzema ended up being marked out the game by puyol and Alves. Ozil was also marked out the game, and Benzema gradually got more isolated as the game went on.

Overall, Real Madrid were bettered across the pitch. In defense they couldnt handle Sanchez or iniesta, didnt try and stop messi and struggled with alves when he moved forward. The last one stopped Marcelo getting forward which had been a good weapon. In midfield they couldnt stop Messi or Xavi playing, which is a automatic fail when playing Barcelona. In attack they pressed well, but didnt link up enough and ended up playing as individuals, the complete contrast to barcelona.

It should be said Real Madrid didnt get much luck, Messi could have got sent off if the referee was braver, Xavis goal was extremely lucky and Ronaldo should have scored at least once. But then Madrids goal itself was fortunate and its on these fine margins that games are won.

“Up front Benzema did a good job, getting himself a early goal and battling well with Pique, winning long balls forward and holding up the ball well, but this meant nothing if he wasnt being supported well as di maria played too wide, and ronaldo despite getting some good early chances due to good work from benzema ended up being marked out the game by puyol and Alves. Ozil was also marked out the game, and Benzema gradually got more isolated as the game went on.”

Yes, this is a good point – I personally wouldn’t have started Benzema (would have with Ronaldo alone upfront) but tink he did a very good job. Also agree on your praise for Diarra…

samuel on December 11, 2011 at 9:03 pm

i find you pretty harsh with benzema, he was awesome playing with lyon and is one of the most gifted real madrid players.

jay on December 12, 2011 at 1:34 pm

When was ronaldo ever effective as a lone forward?

He cant hold up the ball , he is at his best when hes able to run at players with speed

Alf on December 12, 2011 at 7:29 pm

The only time Mourinho has won Barcelona since moving to Madrid was when Ronaldo was moved to lone forward in the Copa del Rey.

Granted, Barcelona had Pinto in goal and were missing Puyol(injured) and Abidal(out for surgery).

Full-back on December 11, 2011 at 11:03 am

“For all the other tactical factors in this match, Messi not being accounted for was very important. He simply got too much room.” and the paragraph on Messi.

Could this Real formation and approach be the answer for when international teams play Spain. They don’t have Messi but are set up similarly

Tactically, Mourinho is so poor. He’ll be remembered as a coach who won many trophies, but he doesn’t add anything to the game, it’s football of the past. Meanwhile, Guardiola is inventing the football of the future.

Ian on December 11, 2011 at 11:17 am

Özil was obviously not Reals worst player how could one say that?

If you would have watched the match closely you could see that Özil did a pretty solid defensive job and also gave Madrid a kind of a structure. You could see that clearly when he was taken out for Kaka who really had no real impact on the game and also was not good in defense.

Overall you have to say that Madrid was pretty unfortunate though, the second goal was just bad luck and Ronaldo had to make at least 2 more goals for his side.

First goal was a mistake in the midfield and Messi could pass through to Sanchez who was not followed good enough by Coentrao. Easy goal, typical Barcelona style.

Last goal Marcelo left to much space for Alves (as he generally did in the whole game in my opinion, he had a poor game) and again Coentrao could not stop his opponent.

It should have been at least a draw though but Real lost the game because of a really weak performance of Ronaldo you just have to say it as it is. He did not use his high quality changes, wasted a lot of free kicks and just had no impact on the game. Don’t guess how you can say Özil or another Madrid player was worse.

For Barcelona I don’t think they were the better side but the were more efficient and a little bit lucky. Sanchez was pretty annoying always lieing on the floor and acting like a drama queen. Iniesta was just as good as always causing real problems on Madrids right side especially when there was more space after the substitution of di Maria. Puyol had a superb game as well, he just wins nearly all of his tackles.
Thing I found interesting was that Barcelona siwtiched to a kind of 4-4-2 which they don’t play too often I think.
The rest of the side was decent which was enough to win this.

Jose and Lord Fergus are like a couple of old gangsters at a faded Palais…

Marooned in the hinterland of transitional football and the glory years of 2005-08

The problem is that transitional remains an efficient way to knock up large points totals in the league – but after 3 years of humiliation, save the false dawn with Inter, they are clearly holding on to a broken dream…

The insertion of Fabregas as a nominal forward is a huge embarrassment for process led coaches.

sidjeen on December 11, 2011 at 11:54 am

previously i thought that if teams pressed barca higher up the pitch, if they took an early lead and if they stopped messi from scoring then they’d be able to beat barca real did all of the above and still lost so how can one break the barca code? if the most expensively assembled team in the world managed by jose mourinho cannot do it who can?

mijusta on December 11, 2011 at 1:04 pm

How about Mourinho 2.0. You-know-who.

Ryan on December 11, 2011 at 2:54 pm

I would say time might be Barcelona’s biggest rival, as there’s really nobody that can replace Puyol. The Masia-trained youngsters look mighty impressive, though.

Jota on December 11, 2011 at 7:17 pm

Last season he only made half of the games… so Barça know to play without him. But he did a hell of a job yesterday!

Ryan on December 11, 2011 at 8:13 pm

Yes, but all of Barcelona’s losses came from a Puyol absence. But you’re right, they are learning to play without him.

kaneprior on December 11, 2011 at 12:02 pm

Barcelona – They played some fantastic football, got the big decisions right, changed things around to win the game and yet, I still feel Real Madrid shot themselves in the foot and could have made things harder for Barcelona.

In defense, they went for Puyol over Mascherano, which was a big decision Barca got right, Mascherano has been there best CB, but Puyol had the abilty to cover for Alves and that proved vital. The defense looked more comfortable after the change, as Puyol and Alves doubled up on Ronaldo and stopped him influencing the game. Abidal was all class against Di maria and i dont remember him being beaten (the goal was Valdez’s fault not abidal). Pique had a tough time dealing with Benzema, but as Barca stopped the support getting to him, it didnt lead to anything. Busquets also dropped back into defense to help Pique abit more whilst also taking Ozil out of the game.

I was worried about Busquets in this game, he was set to be the free player and i wondered if he could effect the game as much. But with Ozil playing, this gave Busquets a player to mark and Ozil not once was a threat to Barca. He also was still a free player as Ozil was slack with his marking, and helped Barca keep control of the midfield, and was able to pick out his team mates easily. This reminds me of the champion league final, where Ozil like Rooney failed to pick up Busquets and both proved fatal as they both only had two CMs trying to deal with Messi, Xavi and Iniesta/Fabregas and so needed to stop the supply of the ball to them.

Alves became one of most dangerous players on the pitch after moving forward. This was a masterstroke by Guirdiola, and he ran riot; exploiting the space between Ronaldo and Marcelo, proving a great outball for Barca, pinning back Marcelo and proving fantastic balls into the box ala Fabregases goal. A fantastic performance and arguably won Barca the game.

In midfield, One of Barca’s weak links, despite grabbing a goal was Fabregas. At the start i wasnt sure what he was supposed to be doing, playing deeper than usual and in the pocket of Diarra. After the change, he moved deeper and was able to escape the pressing of diarra, and started to help barca dominate possession more easily, whilst proving late runs into the box. But its funny that Fabergas got his goal only when diarra was substituted off, and was allowed a untracked run into the penalty area. Iniesta had a fine game out wide left, driting across into central areas to cause havoc. He exposed Coentrao at RB by overloading that flank with Sanchez, whilst also moving centrally to expose the midfield problems Madrid were having trying to deal with Xavi and Messi, slthough diarra did a good job stopping Iniesta when he tried this. The one time Iniesta did get past Diarra he was fouled, which lead to him being substituted which allowed iniesta much more space to drive into.

It was Xavi and Messi that made sure Barca dominated however. They exposed Alonso so much im sure he will having nightmares for the nest week. Alsonso tried to press Xavi whilst occupying the space messi loves and fsiled at both. Arguably Mourinho should have fielded Khedira to deal with xavi and let alonso deal with messi. But he didnt, and Xavi got way too much time on the ball and orchestrated all of Barca’s moves. This surely should have been the first aim of madrid, but once again they let xavi dominate the game, a rookie mistake. Messi was also allowed far too much space in between the midfield and defense. He tore Madrid apart and was key in two of Barcas goals, which showed his overall game in this match, creating the chances rather finishing them. That is an important point as Madrid surely thought messi would play higher up and the defense could come out and deal with him. Once again a big decision that Barca got right.

Up front, Sanchez was fantastic at frist occupying Coentrao and Pepe so that iniesta could overload on the left. The moving more central, occupying both CBs and creating space for midfield runners by dragging them out of position (look at the third goal, Sanchez had dragged pepe well out of position). This could only work because he was dangerous when left free (ie the first goal).

Overall, Barcelona nullified Real Madrids biggest threats; Marcelo and Ronaldo (Alves), Ozil (Busquets), Di Maria (Abidal) and Benzema (isolated). They dominated the game as Busquets, Xavi and Messi were left free. And they won the game through Sanchez dominating the CB’s creating space for himself and his teammates, Alves dominating the right flank and sending great crosses into the box and Messi getting space and time to create chances. Iniesta also did a great job on the left flank despite it not generating a goal, and Fabregas did well to win a header when up against a far taller Defense.

Barca got all the big decisions right; moving Alves forward, playing Sanchez up front, playing Iniesta on the left and dropping Xavi and Fabregas deeper to disorganize Real Madrids pressing. Real Madrid didnt; starting Ozil instead of Khedira which really was the biggest decision and lead to lots of other problems for Real Madrid.

Sahin on December 11, 2011 at 12:05 pm

The biggest reason why Real Madrid can’t beat Barcelona right now is Cristiano Ronaldo. I know it sounds stupid, with all the goals he has scored for them, some of them important (although most of them not), but, here’s what’s wrong with him. Look at Barcelona and Lionel Messi. He didn’t have a great game yesterday (in fact he should have been sent off before half time), but still made the difference. Messi has the ball, he sucks in the Real Madrid defenders, then makes a brilliant pass (1-1 goal here). Now, what happens when Ronaldo has the ball? He sucks in the Barcelona defenders, but instead of making the key pass, he runs in to the corner and tries to beat 3 defenders, either gives away possession, or tries a poor cross easily intercepted by Puyol. He kills their attacks more than creates anything.

3rnald0 on December 11, 2011 at 2:25 pm

very true – ronaldo offers nothing defensively also (which is against what mourinhos teams are all about)

guil9 on December 12, 2011 at 5:44 pm

I’m sure that Mourinho prefers a Eto’o-ish player than Ronaldo.

jobless on December 12, 2011 at 7:19 am

I really cannot understand people saying Messi should have been dismissed. Ok, Messi mistimed a challenge. But it was in the opposition half and not breaking a counter attacking move. There seemed to be no malice intent, just a case of mistiming. And there was no way that Xabi would have got injured due to the challenge. And Messi was not fouling repeatedly. It was his first (perhaps only single) foul in the whole match. His first card for something he said to the referee

If every foul is a yellow, each match would end up as a fives or sevens.

There were a few much more serious two footed challenges during the match which were not deemed to be worthy of a card. And I personally felt Messi’s challenge was much less serious when compared to those

Sahin on December 12, 2011 at 5:31 pm

But Alonso got booked for an almost identical challenge on Messi a little before that. Imagine it was Pepe, I’m pretty sure he would have been sent off.

Anonymous on December 13, 2011 at 7:14 am

watch the replay, messi barely touched alonso.

Ole Gunner on December 11, 2011 at 12:15 pm

Mourinho has perhaps the most expensively assembled team in football history and in 8 games against his club’s main rival has won just one game. Any other manager would get dismissed and derided.

Harman on December 11, 2011 at 12:36 pm

And who do you exactly propose to replace Mourinho?!

Diverinho on December 11, 2011 at 9:20 pm

Ronaldo, Marcelo, and Xabi Alonso.

Diverinho on December 11, 2011 at 9:31 pm

ah, just realised i misread your post. well, mourinho is a good coach, so he should continue. just certain players i mentioned above are a problem to real, imo. Including Kaka, I might add. Too large names for what they offer on the pitch.

petr on December 11, 2011 at 12:17 pm

Great write up!

I don’t understand the Madrid crowd, 2-1 down with 30 minutes left and all you could heard were the Barca fans. I’m not having a go at Madrid (I wanted them to win) but the crowd deserved a defeat.

Harman on December 11, 2011 at 12:31 pm

@ZM: You’re certainly having a good time basking in the afterglow of having written yet another brilliant article.

In my view though, this match was not won or lost due to tactical reasons. Mourinho usually doesn’t set up teams to create many many chances – he sets them up to create a few good chances. In this match too the chances did come while Madrid were still in the game but they were never taken.

It was lost by Real Madrid psychologically in the mind. Madrid were matching Barcelona and winning possession in dangerous positions till the second goal which Marcelo scored for Barca ! A Barcelona victory has made Guardiola look better than he is yet again. Ronaldo looked a bit lost in this match from the look on his face. Ussually, he is more fired up and combative, pushing Guardiola etc..

Mourinho in his post match comments has alluded to psychological factors as well. He blamed his team only for the first goal, and for me he is right.

But towards the end of the season , I expect Madrid to get even better, with Sahin, Kaka, Carvalho ready, available and better than before. Ozil too has scope for improvement with his stamina. Barcelona on the contrary has limited scope for improvement(over their peak). The newcomers will improve but are not likely to get better than the corresponding RM players. A champions league clash further in the year would be mouth watering !

Harman on December 11, 2011 at 12:34 pm

Maybe Zonal Marking can comment on this i.e psychological factors in the match. Also, I’d like to know what do you make of the 10 commandments Mourinho gave to his players before the match – were they a rumour? – I can’t say.

He did tell his players to not be anxious and anxious they did look !

Ryan on December 11, 2011 at 2:46 pm

Don’t forget that Pedro and Villa still have plenty of room to improve. And Cuenca will surely grow in stature by the next Clasico; the kid has loads of skill and provides the team great width.

KG on December 12, 2011 at 12:03 pm

Harma, what makes you think that Barcelona won’t improve? My view is that they are even getting better because they were able to adapt to Madrid’s game, while Madrid, though they did well early on, lost steam with the passing of time. Don’t forget that playing at the Bernabeu is not easy, but to come out victoriuos shows the ever growing strength of Barcelona. Winning takes a number of factors; tactics, mentality, teamwork, luck, accuracy. If you do these well, which Madrid failed to do, then you can be assured of victory.

3rnald0 on December 11, 2011 at 1:22 pm

Mourinho proved that Real Madrid are bigger than the manager yesterday. A club should never hire a succesful manager and pressurise him into changing his winning philosophy. Mourinho of old would have always played a DM with 2 centre mids infront yesterday and he would never have played a player like ronaldo yesterday either – with no defensive discipline.

Mourinho has changed his winning forumla that he knows best – hence isn’t winning anymore (important games vs barca anyway). Inter Milan had the defensive discipline – beat barca. Chelsea Had defensive discipline – beat barca more often than not under mourinho.

John on December 11, 2011 at 4:51 pm

Inter played 4 times against Barcelona, and only won once. With the crucial help of Portuguese referee Benquerenca.

As for Chelsea. 2 wins, 2 draws, 2 defeats. And that was the time Abramovich bought him everything he wanted.

It looks like Barcelona was playing 3-1-5-1 in 2nd half. Wow, and they have won with coach, who was unbeaten at home in Portugal, England and Italy. That’s really amazing.

And some Real critics’s pesimistic prediction has been fulffied. Firstly, Real is much better in 1st half, but with Barca you must play superb during all 90 minutes. Secondly, almost everything in last 15 games has depended on di Maria (incredible 11 asist in this season). Without di Maria with poor performance in 2nd half and against wake-up Iniesta Real has a little chance to win this battle.

grace on December 12, 2011 at 2:49 am

last 15 games wasn’t depend on di maria, lol.
di maria had run of bad form until the last 6 games where he made couple of 2/3 assists in one game

aciduzzu on December 11, 2011 at 1:47 pm

Spain’s coach said last week that the player he starts the team with (Spain’s national team) is Busquets. What do you think about that as a surprising statement?

Ryan on December 11, 2011 at 2:43 pm

It’s not surprising – a few years ago he said if he could be any player, Del Bosque would be Busquets.

John on December 11, 2011 at 4:55 pm

If there wasn’t the pressure of the press of Madrid, he sure wouldn’t play Xabi Alonso next to Busquets either. Let’s see at the Euro if he sticks to Alonso. Cesc, Silva, Mata all pushing to get a spot in the team.

aciduzzu on December 11, 2011 at 11:30 pm

I thought that he’s going to say Alonso too (or maybe Casillas) and not Busquets, but now I guess that all the tactics specialists are thinking about how rare certain qualities are. I mean Busquets’ type of player must be harder to find.

sibelkacem on December 11, 2011 at 3:04 pm

In opposition to some of the comments above about Abidal, I think he had a bad game, especially at some point of the second half when his teammates openly preffered not to pass him a ball. It got better when Di Maria went off.

kevin j on December 12, 2011 at 5:33 pm

he was pretty good defensively, but he definitely bottled a few passes. i know i got nervous every time the ball went his way.

Yang on December 11, 2011 at 3:46 pm

Ronaldo had two clear cut chances where it is his favorite zone, If his mind is clam, he would score nine times out of ten in that situation.

It is not the unusual case from him, think Mr Mou need to sort out this mental stuff. Madrid have enough chances towin the game and you cannot expect total control of game against one of the big team so result often depend upon taking chances. If you miss open chances, we will lose simple as.

Ran on December 11, 2011 at 4:25 pm

Glad to see that someone else agreed with me that Ozil was completely useless both with the ball and defensively. I will say that I myself wanted to start him, but I wanted to go with 3 central-midfielders which would mean Ozil’s defense wouldn’t be as important. That’s really the only thing Mourinho got wrong.

But credit to Guardiola. Both he and Mourinho got something wrong (Mourinho with Ozil, Guardiola with Cesc which prevented Barca from having any width), but Guardiola made an adjustment (pushed Alves into a winger’s role) which changed the game — Mourinho took too long to take Ozil off, and even when he did, Kaka’s impact wasn’t big.

Having said all of this, I still maintain that if we took our chances the outcome of the game would have been much different. Tactical victory for Guardiola? Yes, but a minor one. The more important thing was the taking of chances and Barca did the best at that, which ultimately won them the game.

Looking back at it starting Coentrao over the slightly injured Arbeloa was obviously the right move (Coentrao played very well). But going with a closed-down diamond formation would have been the way to go. It would mean that Ozil didn’t have to do the defensive work that we needed him to do (which he didn’t), and it would conserve Ronaldo more energy since the extra midfielder (Khedira) would do more of the defensive work.

ttmumbiys on December 11, 2011 at 4:26 pm

Why doesn’t Mourinho put Diarra on Busquets then use two deep lying Playmakers in Alonso and Sahin.

Actually, I think that Özil can be a better player in Madrid. Look, against Barcelona, he was prepared to track Busquets. Barça, however, still won.

The german is better than he was in last year, when he gone to Real Madrid. But, if Kaká gets his form, then Özil can let his position.

Nowadays, Özil is a more complete player than he was sometime ago.

amador on December 11, 2011 at 5:42 pm

The key that makes Barcelona so dominant is their ability to give so many opportunities to messi the best player in the world to create plays. This is why both messi for argentina and Spain without messi are not as effective. Messi does not get the same amount of opportunities and Spain lacks that individual brilliance to unlock defenses. Messi completed over 70 passes. That equates to the madrid defense reacting 70 times to Messi. CR7 on the hand has less chances when he plays against Barca. Therefore he presses more when he finally gets the ball. This is Barcelona best defense causing great players who are used to seeing the ball to get desperate and rushed when they finally do. What I am puzzled is why Madrid does not press in spurts through out the game in order to keep break Barca’s rhythm? Also have to Pep credit I thought Mascherano was the best candidate to play CB but Puyol was incredible again.

Ralph on December 11, 2011 at 5:51 pm

The mental strength of this Barcelona team must be also mentioned. As one said in the pre-match analysis if Real scores the first goal it would make things VERY difficult for Barcelona. Yet they never looked very nervous after the first goal. Guardiola must deserve some credit for this.

All I can say is that I am proud of Barça, and overcoming such an early goal. I won’t talk about Madrid, there will be plenty of fans that can do that. I am proud of the team. People doubt them, it;s normal. They still come and say “we’ve still got it”.

I thought this game resembled the CL final a great bit. Madrid played an attacking 4, just like United plays a 4-4-2 with two strikers & 2 wingers/wide midfielders, and the early press did okay but eventually faded for a simple reason: to consistently press all game you need a very high defensive line (like Dortmund). But defenses have to drop deep because Barca threads great split passes. Thus, Madrid and United pressed with just the midfield and forward(s), and looked decent 20 minutes or so, but faded quite a bit quite early.

That being said, Barca has a great chameleon of a team. Every time an opposing manager tries to mark a holding midfielder or player out of a game, Pep adapts. In this game, like the CL final, I saw Ozil (ala Rooney) try to sit on top of Busquets. Thus, Busquets dropped back, Alves pushed up, and Cesc tucked into the middle – forcing Madrid into a 4-4-2 before Ozil could realize what had happened. Messi has also gone from a winger that can be double-teamed out into a good false nine and/or ten.

And, of course, Iniesta was wonderful and shows how flexible he is – he seemed to start as a central midfielder alongside Xavi early on, but when Fab pushed into the middle and Alves pushed up, he moved wide where he was so lethal during Euro 2008 and other games. Pep’s intelligence and talented players mean that they can subtly shift alignments to really mess with any sort of man-making strategy. This is not like Arsenal of several years ago, where you sicked a shadow on Henry, or even Chelsea a few years ago, when SAF or Mou would sick somebody on Makelele.

Of course, some people point to the unfortunate and unlucky second goal by Barca. However, it wasn’t against the run of play – Barca looked better.

Hopefully Mou will learn his lesson – a defensive side and a draw, and another Barca misstep against a Getafe, and the game in the Nou Camp could have been meaningless. The psychology of losing at home, and giving Barca a win, cannot be underestimated.

Instead, Real will probably need a draw away as opposed to a draw at home.

Tristan on December 11, 2011 at 11:26 pm

While Ronaldo by all accounts had an abysmal performance yesterday, I will say Mourinho (who got ALOT wrong yesterday) should shoulder some of the blame. In the first half, Madrid often looked like they were playing three up top (Benzema – Ozil – Di Maria). Benzema is a player who moves to the wing and then comes inside when the team’s in possession. He did it in both legs of the Supercup (but his movement was to the right rather than left which worked much better). Because it’s Barcelona, Real didn’t have that much of the ball, hence Benzema moved wide constantly. Why he decided to move left instead of right this time (especially with all the space left on that side) I don’t know unless that was Mou’s instruction, but it caused CR7 to sit on the half-line for most of the first half which not only limited his impact but Marcelo’s ability for interplay on that side. It’s also why Ronaldo got he got his scuffed shot in the first half, he was forced to play an almost left-sided shutter role, which led to him being the player coming from deep for that shot.

Also, Ozil looked almost like a false 9 in the middle with Benzema’s constant movement wide, but he’s not a real threat with shots from distance and due to Barca’s pressing and Busquets, he wasn’t allowed time and space on ball to play killer passes wide hence he was subdued. In the Supercup and the 1-1 he played deeper, out of range of Busquets and gave Xavi and Iniesta (who work hard yes, but aren’t nearly as good natural tacklers as they are attacking players) problems on the ball, and at least something think about (which Alonso, for all his passing prowess, never does in these ties). Sneijder showed both in the Inter tie and the World Cup final that playing deeper away from Busquets will make the pair have to not overcommit to attacks and also give alot more space for through-balls (i.e the two passes to Robben in the final).

Ultimately, if Madrid was going to end up with a 4-3-3-esque shape anyway (Diarra was always going to have to clean up between to lines), he might as well just gone with it, and even as the game was going on, he could have simply switched Ronaldo and Ozil’s roles with Ronaldo upfront and Ozil in a deeper role. The fact that Mourinho refused to change, or even MODIFY his starting system, even with the subs (all like for like) was one the main reasons Madrid fell apart. It’s like playing chess and building an attack on one side, the opponent makes the attack useless, and you refuse to find a new plan. One manager’s playing chess (Pep), and the other (Mou) is playing checkers right now really.

Kandinsky on December 12, 2011 at 1:27 am

In my opinion, the main problem of Real Madrid against Barcelona is a mental problem. The players block a lot in this game, even when compared with other team who face Barça.
I still keep my opinion that I have since last year: Real Madrid needs energetic defensive miedfielders, not Sahin’s or Altintop’s or Coentrões. I know Sahin is a fantastic player, but doesn’t add a new dimension to Madrid’ game. A player like Essien would be a key hiring. Lassana Diarra is a energetic player, but he is very mistake-prone to play a key role on defensive duties and he commits a lot of unnecessary fouls.

Karthik on December 12, 2011 at 2:05 am

I know many may laugh at this point:
Knowing Mou well for the last 8 years, he did not use all his cards for this game. This game is not important enough to use all his tricks & plans. There are games ahead – most importantly the Champions league. He may as well lose the return game in Nou camp playing the same way they did now if they have a 4 point lead ahead of the game. The real game is when they have a knock-out. Please mark these words if any one think it is laughable. This is not a single game of 90 mins – This is a game that is played season long!!

VKD on December 12, 2011 at 3:44 am

My ideal podcast would be Jonathan Wilson, Michael Cox and Bobby McMahon every day gradually going over the weeks completed fixtures but I’m ecstatic to have the access we have from them through various mediums.

I agree that the change of Guardiola’s tactics resulted in improved play but I don’t truly believe it was an act of brilliance as much as one of desperation.

Messi has made many amazing runs but this one was among his most industrious & ingenius given the antagonists in the sequence and that could never realistically, tactically accounted for.

The run was of pure intellect and akin to how a grandmaster would run his knights and bishops.

With the exception of Casillas, Di Maria and Marcelo; each counterpart on Barca is of at least 20% higher class (footballing intellect not skill,
technique, stamina or general athleticism).

By the time of the 3rd Barca goal, Barca was outshot 2 to 1, had much less positive possession and had fewer of the higher quality chances.

Sanchez finished a relatively low quality opportunity compared to the two Cristiano missed.

I feel Barca was outcoached, outplayed, outmanaged in every way except those special qualities in focus and genius.

I still love the work Michael Cox does here and as a guest on the Guardian podcast.

I was so eagerly anticipating his preview that I went to some Zonal Marking withdrawal syndrome.

P.S. I think Cristiano is at least a step ahead in almost all of the athletic, skill and technique areas of football but has less than a half or even a quarter of the true quality of a footballer: genius.

With the exception of Casillas, Di Maria and Marcelo; each counterpart on Barca is of at least 20% higher class (footballing intellect not skill,
technique, stamina or general athleticism).

technique, are you sure?

VKD on December 15, 2011 at 3:57 am

I wanted to define this form of “class” as opposed to suggesting that some or all Barca were not also 20% superior in some of those areas. Some people want to use “class” denote skill & technique while disregarding the footballing intellect.

For the record Cristiano is the only player among the remaining six who has arguably superior technique and skills for his size than Messi.

Thom on December 12, 2011 at 5:03 am

I find the quotes from Pep on Twitter interesting, that the plan was to start 4-3-3 and switch to 3 at the back fairly early (ended up being later as they tried to recover from going 1–0 down). Might explain Fábregas’s inclusion a bit better, which was puzzling to me.

I don’t have time to read all the comments, so apologies if this point has been made, but although your analysis is excellent, I don’t think you’ve made enough note of how well Iniesta played. His second half performance was awesome: his ability to carry the ball into dangerous areas, under pressure, really caused problems for Madrid. Although the second Barca goal was lucky, it came about because Iniesta was marshalling attacks down the Real right (were Coentrão was beginning to struggle badly), and Madrid just couldn’t get the ball clear. Equally, Iniesta’s role in the third goal was critical: he did the hardest piece of work: turning under pressure to emerge with the ball and find Messi in space. I think no-one did more to demoralise Real than Iniesta: his control and balance make him nearly impossible to tackle and I think he really deflated an otherwise committed Madrid performance.

Having said that, I completely agree with your points about the space afforded to Messi, the importance of Busquets (who I thought played extremely intelligently), and the problems with playing Ozil. Even still, Real had good chances. Barca deserved the win but it’s crazy to think that Ronaldo couldn’t bury those chances.

Great blog, by the way.

Neutro on December 12, 2011 at 1:10 pm

Madrid will win La Liga, I Thinh. Its better than Barça.

blake on December 12, 2011 at 2:05 pm

On Madrid: I think they are too predictable. If Di Maria gets the ball he’s going to run as fast as he can to the penalty box then cut inside and look for a cross/pass or shot. If CR7 gets the ball he’s going to try to hit the gap between the RCB and RB. If Benzema gets the ball he’ll have a bad touch and give it away . They will create chances like this, like they did, but not for long. That’s why the 2nd half they were so frustrated. To use a baseball analogy, if you know he’s going to throw 100 mph fastballs, all you have to do is swing earlier. I like Ozil but, as mentioned earlier, if he doesn’t have another creative player, like he does on the German team, than he’s easy to nullify too. Missed Chances + Predictable Players = 2nd Place

On Barca: What is so different about them this year is the new guys, and it showed. Villa and Pedro are good at what they do, but they only really do one thing, stay out on the wings and go to the goal line. Cesc and Alexis are more creative and versatile. It has made it hard for Barca this season because neither of them “know” the system yet. But this game proved that they have learned. I predict that Barca are going to be untouchable after Christmas.

Kevos on December 12, 2011 at 5:07 pm

good point on Barca unpredictability.
Alexis was somewhat of a Messi back in Udinese, I hope Pep can give him that role anytime soon; and Cesc, well… a midfielder that does some good runs and have a surprising goal tally.

misho on December 12, 2011 at 2:25 pm

Arsene Wenger demonstrated how to beat Barcelona last year in the Champions League. A line of four in the back, playing deep, with minimal fullback runs. Two hard working, defensive minded players before them. You drop deep and deny spaces between the lines and when in possetion – play long balls to speedy forwards. This seems to be the only way. Every other approach is suicide, Barcelona has the most completed pack of players, I ahve ever seen. And they work as a unit, tireless.
I think that this year, Arsenal has the most realistic chances of stopping Barca, if they meet. The hardworking trio of Song, Wilshare, Arteta will park before their defense line, break the passing game and try to feed the speedy Theo with long balls. Plus Vermaelen can do exactly what Busquets did yesterday, move and press high up the pitch and tracking Messi.

footballfans on December 13, 2011 at 12:20 am

Barca once again beaten by linesman error.

Anonymous on December 13, 2011 at 5:33 pm

or, rely on injuries such that pep does not have all his key pieces. this is part of the game where luck truly does come in

Stelor on December 12, 2011 at 2:26 pm

I am really suprised about the criticism on Özil. He was obviously the best offensive player for Real and as soon as he was subbed out Madrid was simply overrun. The only problem is, is that he is surrounded by incredibly unintelligent teammates. The only player to link up for him was Benzema and that was it. Ronaldo, Di Maria and Diarra have no idea how to create space with movement and passing cause all they can do is keep the ball, run and dribble. Özil is a one-touch player who loves to play off of his teammates. Unfortunately he only had very few chances to do so in this game because of the players around him. But whenever he had the chance to do it, he was abled to create open space and goalscoring opportunities for his teammates.
In the end i think, the change from Özil to Kaka was actually kind of consequent, because when your team is not abled to create much with teamplay and passing you might as well go the solo-player route all out and have 4 individualists on offense in Di Maria, Ronaldo, Kaka and Higuain.
Its really starting to look like he`d be better suited playing for Barca, cause he could be a catalyst to their often static looking passing play, especially when Messi is having a bad day.
I even think it`d be best for both sides, if Fabregas would play for Real and Özil for Barca, cause their play is actually better fitting for the others team.

fidel on December 13, 2011 at 3:17 am

This!

I´m surprised all of the great tacticians around here didn´t see this. It is so obvious. The play of Ronaldo and Di Maria is Reals main problem. They just aren´t intelligent enough to keep up with Barca. Both are pretty bad in spacing and of the ball runs, and both are basicly black holes who just start running as soon as they touch the ball. Mourinho just gave away the game when he took off Ozil, the only offensive player who gave real some structure. Kaka was just another direct player, leaving them with no ball movement and structure up front and with bad spacing. Barca should try to get more of the german nationals (Götze, Müller, Kroos, Schweini), because the way the german national team is developing I see those players as the only ones able to challenge Barcas core group in the next couple years. But instead I think Bayern will go that way, trying to get at least Götze and Reus, and they will have the best chance to get the better of Barca in the coming years.

Fidel on December 13, 2011 at 3:19 am

I meant Real should try to get more german nationals, not Barca.

fidel on December 13, 2011 at 3:41 am

One more point. I think Bayern has sort of the same “problem” as Barca with their offensive group of Ribery, Gomez and especially Robben. Todays modern game is thin air for one dimensional specialists. you basicly want a squad where almost everyone can do anything at least good. Ribery has made huge strides to become a more complete, team oriented player this season, but Robben is still his old selfish self. Gomez is trying really hard to be more of a team player but he is just limited in some areas. Bayern this season has been at it´s best when they played with as much “allrounders” as possible. Which means Schweini, Kroos, Ribery and Müller all on the pitch. It was a huge mistake to let Klose go imo. Maybe he would´t score as much as Gomez (though he does score for Lazio) but he´s much better in pressing, working back, much better off the ball and at passing and creating chances for his teammates. That´s why he´ll always start over Gomez for the national team, as long as he´s healthy.

Anyways, Robben is definitly disposable and if they get a good offer, I think Bayern would let him go.

This is a typically brilliant breakdown of the match. Great work, Zonal Marking! I wrote my own two-cents on the match (www.thestudentjournals.co.uk/comment/sport/607-el-clasico-a-feast-for-footballs-aficionadas)

Colin on December 12, 2011 at 6:01 pm

This may have been said already, but I think that Guardiola believes he shifted not to a 4-4-1-1, but to a 3-4-3 diamond. busquets pushing high into what looked more like a holding role to me, so the team would look like
Iniesta Sanchez Alves
Messi
Fabregas Xavi
Busquets
Abidal Pique Puyol
Valdes.
I’m also consistently amazed at what puyol brings to the side whenever they face madrid.

Jordan on December 12, 2011 at 7:32 pm

Differences between mistakes and luck. Madrid’s goal was Valdes mistake, which they took advantage of. Casillas saving Messi’s shot was skill, not luck. If Messi hadn’t shot on target, than it would be lucky, but his shot was on target, and a brilliant Casillas save denied him. Skill. Barca’s first goal was skill. Sanchez managed to break through 2 CBs without losing to ball to beautifully place the ball past Casillas. Skill. Barca’s second goal was luck. Xavi aimed his shot to the bottom left and it deflected to the bottom right, bouncing off the post to go in. Pure luck. Lucky for deflection, twice lucky for the post. Barca’s third goal was skill. Brilliant header from Cesc.

Ronaldo’s two chances were luck for Barca. He had great opportunities to score, and he shot off target with both. Valdes didn’t need to save, Valdes had nothing to do with it, they were off-target. That’s luck for Barca. Complete opposite of Casillas making brilliant save for Messi’s on target shot earlier.

Bambou on December 13, 2011 at 12:17 am

How come madrids goal is not as much luck as Xavi’s shot? I get the mistake by Valdez is a mistake but after that there were two lucky bounces before the ball got to Benzema. Just as lucky as Xavi’s shot or even more so.

Anonymous on December 13, 2011 at 5:41 pm

d’ok! who cares? luck or skill, the better team won. as a neutral i am happy to admit if RM is the better team, but they werent.

Frohsinn on December 13, 2011 at 11:18 pm

In your definitions: had ronaldo scored on his two chances, you would’ve qualified them as skill. hence, him failing to convert them must be a lack of skill, and not bad luck.
so no luck for barca, just a lack of (mental) skills.

RMJ on December 13, 2011 at 4:03 pm

The biggest problem is Ronaldo has become an almost luxury player at Real. He used to be more hard working on the pitch when he was with us at united. Right now, he barely even tracks the ball when he is upfront. i think he has become too enamored with becoming the best in the world and the Madrid folks feeding his ego, i doubt anything will change soon.

Secondly, for me while Ozil’s a great player his limitations are brought to light by the Barca gameplay. For me he needs more time on the ball to be very effective and Barca defend in packs and gets picked off. Ronaldo can bully his way out but always runs out of space in the end.

Finally, Madrid needs to get a proper central defence. Ramos should be playing at right back and Carvalho is getting too old and Pepe isnt even in the top 10 center backs in the world for me.

But i dont think this is enough to beat barca who i believe are once in a generation kind of team at the moment. i think until Xavi & co retires we wont be seeing an end to the dominance in European football soon.

cagliostro on December 13, 2011 at 7:46 pm

Tactics my ass. It was about putting away your chances. Ronaldo’s first chance was A LOT easier to put away than Sanchez (and would have made it 2-0 and maybe game over). Ronaldo’s second chance (open header) was A LOT easier to put away that Fabregas header. But as usual, to the victor goes the spoil, etc.

I don’t subscribe to the notion that any tactical switch beat Real Madrid.
Blaugrana players are at least 20% better at every starting position except Di Maria’s, Marcelo’s and Casillas’ ( the latter being the only superior Blancos player
Los Blancos were outclassed but Blaugrana beaten strategically and tactically.
Messi’s absolute genius and Sanchez’s execution saved Blaugranas from defeat.
Took 30 minutes for Barca’s 3rd shot: Ramos slip for 1st, Xavi corner box free kick for 2nd, Sanchez goal for 3rd.
3-4-3 convenient storyline for authors I love in Jonathan Wilson, Michael Cox and Graham Hunter but they are too good to gloss over that through the 66th minute and 1-3 scoreline, Blaugrana outshot 7-9, and had poorer opportunities.
Messi and Fabregas neutralized for whole game to the point that Messi had to make something happen from his own half to save side sputtering against superior tactics.
Mourinho can only give the players the opportunity to win and between Ronaldo’s low quality on his 2 golden opportunities, Alonso failing to catch Valdes out to sea again, Lass’ 30 yard daydreamer, Angel Di Maria’s woeful crossing when he’s been superb this season; what more can you ask from Mourinho.
Stop pointing the blame at the guy who gave you the most intellectually satisfying Classico in years.
Mourinho beat Guardiola but the Blaugrana squad outclassed the Los Blancos squad.
I loved “Inverting the Pyramid.” I love “Zonal Marking.com.” I think I’m going to love the new Barcelona book by Graham Hunter. But you guys are too good to push this 3-4-3 story when Real Madrid should have routed Barcelona if there was any sort of average finishing.
Barcelona players take limited chances and finish them better because they are higher quality players.
Real Madrid will probably win the league and lose at Camp Nou because of the superior Real Madrid 2nd team but it’s not 22 vs 22. At best it’s 13.5 vs 13.5 but for most of the game 11 vs 11 and Messi, Iniesta, Xavi, Fabregas, Puyols and Pique are just far superior to Ronaldo, Ozil, Alonso, Benzema, Pepe and Ramos.
Sorry about this silly rant but I look forward to all your articles and every Guardian podcast appearance and I have to admit that you’ve been the most objective of the three but I think Mourinho and I are the only ones to suggest that the 3-4-3 was not a tactical victory and real Madrid won the strategic and tactical battle.

Eftychios on December 16, 2011 at 9:10 pm

Well, watching Barcelona grabbing another victory is not the best sight possible but it is interesting in a tactical sense. Real were far better than Barca at creating chances and intensive pressing worked surprisingly well. I doubt if Ozil was a bad move. Personally i think it’s rational. A similar counter-attacking system is utilised in Germany national side (though some differences such as the lone striker’s role are obvious) but his own role is virtually similar (if not identical). Mourinho showed trust to Ozil’s talent and vision but the German was prevented by Busquets’ pressing onto him and his own stamina. I saw Di Maria making 40-metre runs down the flank to spark an attack and it’s normal that this would be the case for all of Real’s attacking players. Ozil isn’t quite of a physical player and he failed to cope up with the tempo. Furthermore, he solely had a less creative (not exactly poor) night. Guardiola’s response was moderate. Sounds weird but it’s kind of stupid to depend on Messi. Messi is the kind of player who would come and create his own chances but he is just not willing to move continuously to make that possible. You could see him walking when not in possesion. And Guardiola insisted making him his main man. Iniesta was FAR better (actually the only Barcelona player who had a great performance). Guardiola DID make up for some mistakes. But his has shown how much dependent he is on a player who makes impact only through support (Xavi and Iniesta are talented enough to raise the level of any forward). Too much space for Messi? No prob. Mourinho barely was threatened by him. Just an assist and that on a 2v2 counter attack: something that any player of his level would be capable of. The true huge disappointment was Ronaldo. No he isn’t selfish or untalented. Nor he is afraid of Barca as the Catalan fans say. He was just tending to catch the spotlight from Messi. His individual actions were clearly targetting to the credit of the hero he had received at the Copa del Rey final. Sometimes nervous but most of the times just forgetting his actual goal to beat Barcelona. Finally, the man of the match in this game was factor luck. Real stroke on Valdes’ mistake. Xavi scored an extremely fortunate goal and through those two the flow of the game was formed. Real-sided in the beginning, Barcelona-sided in the end. If it wasn’t for that Xavi goal it would definitely end up in a draw-Mourinho had planned for it clearly from the start (in fact the whole pressure was attempting to cause the biggest damage possible so that in the end Real would avoid loss). Mourinho should be praised to adapt a strategy that tends not to restrict star individual of the opposition. That because they are simply too many and too good to remain silent just because they don’t reach top form. The Portuguese’s approach was brave and merely paid off. Soon Real should walk off the pitch as victors. For now they should improve tirelessly so their quality can match Barcelona’s. The next Clasico is going to be much more interesting and i don’t think i will be too much of a dreamer if i spoke of a surprise scoreline by Real.

Sam on December 17, 2011 at 11:19 am

Hi Everybody! I noticed that Barca were not playing short corners like they generally do. Almost all the corners they got(at least in the first half), they were trying to head it in. Why this change in tactics against Real Madrid? Any ideas?

Eftychios on December 17, 2011 at 12:55 pm

I don’t think it was something tactically intentional. But it’s generally acceptable that Barcelona have very good players up high. Busquets and Pique are tall, Puyol has a reputation for his aerial ability and they could be hopeful that someone would head it in. Real barely have the height to restrict a man of Pique’s stature for example.

They did play better against Barca than usual, but then they’re simply a better side than usual. Not sure the third was unstoppable – not enough to separate it from the tactical battle.

Iason on December 11, 2011 at 3:12 pm

Am I the only one who thinks that Madrid’s performance was slightly overrated? Of course it was a lot more even than the clasicos in past years, but that’s because they are a much better team now. This game wasn’t as tough for Barcelona as the Copa final, or even the Super Copa. Barcelona were… comfortable. Yes, Barca’s second goal was lucky, but I think the game was already going Barca’s way after that, and they would have found a goal one way or another. Besides, Benzema’s goal was just as lucky. Valdes’ first huge mistake of the season, two deflections of Busquets landing to Madrid players…

Madrid pressed well early, but they didn’t create too many chances and Barcelona held strong. After that, Barca stepped it up and Madrid couldn’t keep up at time. Madrid missed chances, but this happens every clasico. Yesterday, Madrid probably missed two or three clear chances. So did Barca though. And watch the highlights of other clasicos, Madrid usually create (and miss :p) 5 or 6 very clear chances.

el primo on December 11, 2011 at 4:55 pm

Yes, I agree. In my opinion Barcelona dominated the game even in the first half. Real pressed hard up the pitch but every time Barcelona managed to get the ball in the midfield they looked pretty comfortable passing the ball around and threatening Real’s defense. That said, Barca weren’t brilliant either. Some of their players made a lot of silly mistakes, in particular Alves, Cesc and Messi seemed to give up the ball all too often and took too many risks for my taste.

Harman on December 11, 2011 at 5:21 pm

Yes, you’re the only one!

Vegas on December 11, 2011 at 6:10 pm

Some observations from me:

-> Although not “tactical” in the sense with using numbers and technical ability, I felt that Ronaldo did not only have a poor game last night, he was in the mental-frame yesterday that he was in many matches for Manchester United during the 2006-2007 season; everyone knew his quality, he just couldn’t show it and was too eager, causing him to be either too selfish with the ball and take on too many players, or to take too many long-shots. This would drive Sir Alex insane because he was destroying his own team’s game-plan.

Ronaldo did the same yesterday; playing as an inside-forward on the left will give him more goals than if he played as an inside-forward on the right simply due to him cutting him, drifting into the box, so one could understand why he started there, however, when faced against a team that crowds the pitch centrally (sometimes with 7 midfielders), the LAST thing you want to do is have a left-footed player on the right hand side. Di Maria was in some amazing positions yesterday but could not cross the ball or advance further down the touch-line simply due to being left-footed and being on the right.

With the “attacking” side of Real Madrid’s formation having 4 players:

Di Maria — Ozil — Ronaldo
———-Benzema———-

If we denote “L” for left foot and “R” for right foot, you had:

L——-L——R
——–R——-

There is a problem here for playing Barcelona because you had 2 players coming inside to their stronger foot, and even if a player is strong with both feet (which Ronaldo is), when you play against Barcelona, your first-touch has to be exceptional – and it can only usually be achieved with your stronger foot, thus being equally adept to both feet wouldn’t hugely matter; you had a left-footed central attacking midfielder spraying passes either to Ronaldo’s right foot to come inside or to Di Maria’s left-foot to come inside, as opposed to going down the flanks.

If we look at the “attacking” 4-some of a team who beat Barcelona 2-1 (Arsenal), they had

Bendtner—Fabregas—Arshavin
———Van Persie——–

In the second half and both goals came from the wing; one from Nasri running down the right (right foot) and one with Clichy down the left. That match showed best on how to defeat Barcelona’s 4-3-3 with a 4-2-3-1 or a 4-3-3.

Real Madrid did not do this. Of course this is just a minor point – there were 2 deflected goals, Ronaldo was extremely unlucky with a header, etc.. It’s just worth noting for teams trying to attack Barcelona.

Mikkel on December 12, 2011 at 12:43 am

Good post, though i find it necessary to point out that Ronaldo has at more than one occasion played as RW against Barcelona, and Di Maria as LW. They did play with their strong foot on the “outside” for a long period yesterday as well.

kramxel on December 14, 2011 at 4:43 am

You mentioned Di Maria and it’s interesting to note, that even though he feels very comfortable coming inside and taking crossing shots, while playing on the right, his best side is definitely on the left.

Don’t know why Mourinho insists on having him on the right… probably because Ronaldo can then make those diagonal runs… but that leaves the team somewhat limp on the other side, not to mention it’s a shame to waste a player with Di Maria’s potential.

VKD on December 15, 2011 at 3:47 am

I totally agree but I think it’s Ronaldo’s leveraged desire for shots off his right coming in that has condemned Di Maria to the right. If Ronaldo can ever buy into the idea that if he can threaten devastating crosses from the right the left footed shot will always be an oprion then both men would be devastating. Maybe advertising dollars have a lot to do with it.